Hello,

I recently put in a bid on Ebay for an Akai cassette deck to add to my collection. In the last 30 mins another person was bidding against me. They had only just joined Ebay and had no feedback. They bid until my top automatic bid was ousted. They won the item.

Suspicious, I wrote to Ebay customer support about concerns of shill-bidding.

My suspicions were later confirmed when amazingly the winner, dropped out and I was given a second chance offer of double what I wanted to pay. Again, I contacted customer support.

One hour later they wrote back and said that I was right, the rogue bidder had the same name as the seller in their e-mail address. Also, both the rogue bidder and the seller were no longer registered users on Ebay. They wanted payment by cheque or postal order as well. Ebay, have advised me to not pay anything and if the seller complains customer support will get on the case for me.

You hear about these scams but somehow never think that you will be on the end of one.

JJ

I am always leary of the "0" or really low feedback bidders. I have stopped bidding on many of items due to the strange circumstances involved. Bidding as close to the end of the auction seems to keep them from running your bid amout up.

Ed

If you think that is ridiculous, just wait until you find an auction with the seller driving up the bids! I was watching an auction for a sansui quad, the for every bid someone put up, the seller bid as well! Ebay finally pulled the auction before it ended so I guess no one got schtooped.

I would always stay away from low number feedback or recent members. Especially if they are asking for check or money order only.

Unfortunately with todays online scumbags you take a gamble with every purchase. I only get things on ebay from sellers I've been to before who have tons of feedback with very little negative response.

Sounds like you handled it well. It is a shame that the law-abiding world has to deal with the likes of these scammers.

You might also check the Member's Swap Forum for purchases directly from other AK Members.

I had two coworkers shill bid for each other recently on a pair of PS3s they bought, so its not always the same person... I find the behavior immoral.

dew.

Hey, JJ.
We ran into that in bidding for a resort condo. Looked great, and we were looking at a sweet deal. Then, out of nowhere at the end, a bidder congealed from thin air. No rating, no history. I think it's really common, and my only advice is set a number you are willing to pay, and don't exceed it. Still doesn't make up for the time you lost bidding on it, or the disappointment of seeing a great deal vaporize.

And the correct answer is... you are willing to pay what you bid, and not a penny more.

JJ, don't place your bid early.

I decide first on the maximum ammount I'm willing to pay and then I place my bid only in last couple of seconds.

This way, other bidders don't have time to think again and then decide that they actually are willing to pay more and then try to outbid me.

If I place an early bid, someone might try to outbid me and it will drive the price higher for both of us.

Of course there are always other "sinpers" and the man/woman that wants the item most, gets it.

In last eBay auction that I took part in bidding, 11 bids were placed in last 10 seconds.

I won! :)

Also if you decide to bid in last seconds, you have plenty of time to study a bid history and to figure out if the auction is really legitimate.

It's amazing to me what some people will do for a small amount of money.
(OK, now everybody with a dirty mind can comment on THAT)

yeah. same here. I always place my first bid a minute or less before the auction ends.:yes:

I usually bid on stuff to weird to be shill-bidded.

Here is exactly what you receive from ebay when you report shill bidding:
Thank you for taking the time to write to eBay's Safe Harbor
department.
Shill bidding is a serious offense and we will investigate your report
as soon as possible, usually within 24 hours.

We will investigate the accounts for possible shill bidding by looking
at the information you have provided as well as our internal records.
We
will also compare this to bidding patterns and any other activity that
may have occurred involving the reported accounts.

If we are able to find evidence of shill bidding, our actions can range
from issuing an educational alert, a temporary suspension, or in some
cases an indefinite suspension. The type of action that we take depends
on the specific situation surrounding an individual account. Things
such
as the existence of a previous warning, the nature of the offense and
the length of time as a community member will all be taken into
consideration. Repeated violations of policies will often result in the
suspension of a member's account.

Sometimes, what appears to be shill bidding may actually be a
legitimate
bidding activity. This can occur for a number of reasons, for example,
a
bidder may bid almost exclusively on one or two sellers whom they have
come to trust. If we find there is not enough evidence of shill
bidding,
we may not take action against any of the reported accounts.

We assure you that we will thoroughly examine your report. Please keep
in mind that due to our privacy policy you will not receive specific
details of our actions. In certain circumstances, we may contact you by
email if we need further information. We pledge, though, that an eBay
Safe Harbor representative will quickly review your report of shill
bidding and apply our guidelines fairly.

**Please do not respond to this email as your reply will not be
received.

We know your time is valuable and we appreciate you taking a moment to
express your concern to us. Thank you for helping to keep eBay a safe
and reputable forum in which to conduct business.

Regards,

The eBay Safe Harbor Team


I would stress this part in particular:
We assure you that we will thoroughly examine your report. Please keep
in mind that due to our privacy policy you will not receive specific
details of our actions.

Just my observation....................... does the OP care to reveal an item number or link to the auction?

There's a lot of shill bidding onEbay. I refuse to bid against low feedback bidders, half of the time they're shills, or they're so inexperienced that they'll run the price way up, then back out. I don't think Ebay really cares, after all, it's in their best interest to have a shill running up the price, bigger cut for Ebay.

Shill bidding is illegal, not to mention unethical. Ive' read somewhere that sometimes the FBI will bust some of the car dealers, but that is the exception rather than the rule.

I was watching a van one of our local car dealers had on there, looked like it could be a real deal. Anyway, he had two shills bidding against some poor slob, ran the price so high that the legitimate bidder lost. No doubt this fellow receive a 2nd chance offer. Anyway the van sat on the lot for another couple of months, guess they finally took it to the auction. It never was relisted. I was thinking about sending him a "naughty boy, shill bidding is illegal" email complete with a link to the FBI's Computer Crime Division. I figured there's enough hate in this little town without me causing any more, besides, I've seen his cards.

By the way, that FBI link does seem to get some folks moving, wish I could send 'em an IRS link, that would scare the hell out of 'em.

If you really want the item, I don't see the point of bidding unless it's in the last 30 seconds.

If you really want the item, I don't see the point of bidding unless it's in the last 30 seconds.

:thmbsp:

Make it the last four or five if your interconnection is good enough.