Why does someone see the auctions before they are publicly available on the site?

[whats-it-worth-2-you]

I list a very rare and expensive German helmet on eBay yesterday, it has yet to come up on the site, it’s a five day auction starting at 1 cent.  I then had a guy contact me saying they would give me $125 for it, mind you this helmet is worth between $3-5,000.  On top of that he says look at my profile which is some sob story about replacing his collection.  So what kind of fraud is this, how can someone see it before everyone else and then try to buy it for a steal.  This is very alarming and fraudulent, eBay allows people to be taken advantage of?  

[rfmtm]

As soon at you list it, the item becomes viewable and available.  Buyer may have had a watch alert on it so saw prior to the servers getting it spread to the entire country.  Nothing fraudulent about that. 

Also by starting at a penny, you are just begging for low ball offers.  Had you started it at something more realistic, this guy would have never contacted you.   You also risk selling it for a penny, if for some reason no one else bid on it.

[inceptions]

Just because something occurred that you don't understand, that doesn't make it fraud or eBay allowing people to be taken advantage of.

Here's a possibility...

Given that it's a German helmet, if this is a WWII item, it may have violated policy and might have been pulled shortly after it appeared on the site (but after your potential buyer saw it).

I don't know if that's what happened, but it's a possibility.

What I can tell you is that buyers cannot see items on the site that are not yet in search unless they have an item #. Do you still see the helmet in your Active items list? What is the item # shown on the message you received from the potential buyer?

Starting a 5 day auction at a penny is pretty risky if you think the item is worth $5,000. If you were to get one bid, you'd have to sell it for a penny. (And buyers who know you will sell for a penny if you receive one bid may likely think $125 is a generous offer.)