So many con artists now on Ebay...not what it was originally intended to be any longer

[rocklen60c7]

Ebay used to be a place where you could trust most of the people you deal with.  Today it's a **bleep** shoot.

The latest scam I come across are the sellers who place a bid on their own items, perhaps through shill bidders.  You place a bid that usually is too low until it is above what the shill has bid as the high bid.   If your bid was close to what the seller wants you then get a message that you are the winner because the high bid was retracted.  Lucky you!

This has tarnished Ebay without reproach.  It is no longer a safe place to shop.

They do not care as the bottom line is always what counts...money, money, money no matter what!

[mudshark61369]

@rocklen60c7,

 "You place a bid that usually is too low until it is above what the shill has bid as the high bid. If your bid was close to what the seller wants you then get a message that you are the winner because the high bid was retracted".

What you are describing has been happening more often on items listed by Chinese sellers with a very low starting bid, who use an early automatic bid to entice others to bid against it. Then that bid is retracted/cancelled like you said.

You have been a member long enough to know the best way to bid is to place one bid for the most you are willing to pay, very late in an auction. If you are outbid fine, but the seller or shill would not have enough time to retract/cancel their bid. 

You should also know that all bids are active until an auction ends, in case of a cancellation by a seller or retraction by bidder. 

[mudshark61369]

I ended my last post because of a phone call I thought might be an emergency.

eBay can't always get the proof they need to prove shill bidding from foreign sellers.  So it can be harder to shut them down.  The best way to avoid the problem is not to participate in those auctions or to snipe. If people stop bidding on them they will give up the practice.   Chances are if you win at a low price the transaction will be cancelled.  If you win, what you receive will not be the quality that was described. 

[fuzzface50]

Here you are dealing with individual sellers and if you learn to do your due diligence correctly it can be pretty safe buying here. 

If you want a bleep shoot then buy from amazon themselves and you will really get one not knowing if you are getting a legit item or cheap knockoff seeing they have them all mixed together and the more I hear about it from employees working there it is getting worse not better.  Had a chance to drive for them, glad I turned them down.

[myboardid]

Simple answers -

Don't bid until the last seconds of the auction.

Don't bid on items from Asian sellers.

Stick to fixed price listings. 

[lex-talon]

Ebay does have it's share of "questionable" sellers, but most of them are trustworthy. You just encountered a few untrustworthy ones. Purchase from U.S. sellers only and avoid the overseas Asian sellers. 

[repairelectronics]

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@rocklen60c7 wrote:

Ebay used to be a place where you could trust most of the people you deal with.  Today it's a **bleep** shoot.

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eBay has been a **bleep** shoot from day one, the first time I got ripped off was in 1997, I paid $35 for a beer mirror from Texas - still waiting for it to this day. No PayPal back then, it was either cash or...

12 days after Amazon went public I got ripped off for $200, of course, bezo, should have expected that.