schill bidding
Ebay doesn't give buyers the opportunity to report shill buyers because they say their computers can recognize and deal with it. That's a bunch of bull. I buy polished stones and minerals from sellers on the east and west coast and infrequently from China (which is where they are all sourced from) and ALL of the scores of sellers start their auctions at 99 cents and use a shill bidder to protect themselves from having to sell a stone at a price they are unwilling to part with it for. I have seen the exact same stone (and each is totally unique and identifiable from any other) auctioned and "won" eight and nine times, only to be relisted within a week with THE EXACT SAME PICTURE AND DESCRIPTION. If, in one of these repeated auctions, someone eventually bids higher than the predetermined shill bid, which very often you can recognize by looking at the bid page ( it's the one usually placed early and is the only one constantly raising the bid over any low bid) then they will win the stone. But the vast majority of the time (because these stones very often sell for in excess of $100.00) the "winner" of the auction is the shill who works for or may actually BE the seller, the stones never leave the warehouse and the auction repeats. This wastes the time and energy of hundreds of would be buyers who participate in these auctions thinking eventually they will be one of the lucky buyers who win a stone valued at $150.00 for twenty bucks - because they THINK they see it happening every week - not realizing those "lucky winners" are ALWAYS the shill. Ebay's losing out too, because this is the sellers way of not having to pay extra to set a minimum bid, while also being able to draw in all those bidders who can't resist the 99 cent opening bid offer. Do any of you folks out there see this same thing happening with the products that you are interested in buying? Since this is my first post, perhaps it is common knowledge that ebay turns a blind eye to this practice, and, if that's the case, I'm sorry I wasted the couple of minutes of your time that it took to read this.
ripern-0
OP1 year agoThe key word in your comment is "may". Sure, people may know, and then again they may not. So the ones that don't know benefit from finding out what's actually going on in an auction they're participating in. And since when is trying to enlighten someone complaining? No one is complaining about anything. By your logic anyone that lets people know about any type of scam would be "complaining" about the scammers.
pastimpressions
·1 year agoMy red flag is seeing a disproportionate percentile of encrypted bidders with a "0" buy/sell feedback score.
I have had occasion to be bidding on an item.
Mysteriously 1/2 of the active bidders driving up the cost have "0" as their score.
They never seem to win the auctions but seem to "mystically" appear when bidding is stalled for a while at a "plateau," they pop up the bidding to get the pump primed again to only exit stage right.
Not saying this is not possible but IMHO not probable.
Can I say if it's buyers or sellers doing this in this case? No. Can't even say it's not a coincidence.
Just gets my spider senses tingling & I move on. Not passing the Limburger test, as it were
Hey, I don't mind paying top price for an item I really want but I don't like being massaged into it.
ripern-0
OP1 year agoYour absolutely right about seeing a "0" in the buy/sell feedback score. It's the most compelling evidence there is that the bidder is most likely a shill. Very often the winner of an auction that's ended with an obviously very low price on an item worth much more will have that "0" as a feedback score - I see it all the time, and anyone who takes the time to check the Bid History will see it too. That's the shill protecting the seller from taking a loss when the winning bid would be less than the value of the item. Another key red flag is a winner being an unregistered buyer - a sure sign that it's most likely a shill. In the area of my interest - minerals and large polished stones - anyone who is willing to study the Bid History of items will quickly learn to recognize shills, because they are virtually always there - if they weren't, sellers would be forced to sell stones worth $200 for $25 bucks because there are only two or three bidders - and that just ain't happening. I really can't speak to whether or not there are shills for auctions of other things in the over $100 price range - it's outside of my wheelhouse - but in the area of minerals and large polished stones, they are most definitely there to protect the seller against loss. Nice catch on your part - good detective work.
simba6
·1 year agoYour bidding the wrong way. You place one bid just before the auction closes. Use a snipe service if you can't always be there to place the bid. Do keep in mind there is a selling fee and it would get expensive for a seller to do that.
ripern-0
OP1 year agoIf seller cancels transaction with reason "Buyer did not pay", the selling fee is rescinded.
stephenmorgan
·1 year ago............
pikabo-icu
·1 year agoNo I didn't say you implied that.
I was explaining why many times, in fact MANY times, Asian sellers reuse photos.
It's done with gems/minerals/jewelry/handbags and a lot of other items.
So while it may be possible they are relisting the exact same one from your auction, it's also possible they are just reusing the photo.
The more relevant & important part of my post was about avoiding any suspected shill bidding. Since you are familiar with snipe bidding, you are already taking measures to avoid being a victim of shilling.
Lastly, I don't understand why you are being so confrontational and angry toward me.
I have only tried to help you and if you didn't find my posts helpful you certainly couldn't have found them rude or hostile which is the way you responded.
But I'll bounce out now. I don't enjoy being a punching bag for somebody's anger.
Have a nice day and good luck to you.
ripern-0
OP1 year agoI'm sorry you took my post to be as you put it "confrontational, angry, rude and hostile" Take a good objective look at my post. It is completely true and completely factual. To say something is confrontational is a rather subjective opinion, and if you took it that way, that's your prerogative. But to find anger, rudeness, and hostility in my words? That's quite a stretch. That you were being used as a punching bag? That's beyond the pale. Your overreacting - but once again, that's your prerogative. As you bounce know that I REALLY DO wish the best for you - my intention, was never, to be, in any way, abusive. I was trying to help people, and gain some insight, but obviously I rubbed you the wrong way. Perhaps I did perceive your reply to my post to be rather condescending - as if I were a neophyte to the ebay auction process - when in fact, you too were merely stating facts.
pikabo-icu
·1 year ago@ripern-0
Read the listings carefully.
Often they reuse the photo and say you will receive one that's similar but not the exact one pictured.
If you fear shill bidding, SNIPE. Bid once, the most you are willing to pay, in the final seconds of the auction.
This is how I bid and I never worry about shills.
We have some experts here that give wonderful explanations about the eBay bidding process. Perhaps one of them will stop by.
ripern-0
OP1 year agoJust to clarify:
I read every word of every description. But, I think that you may not have read "every word" of my post, because no where did I state or imply that the bidder would not get exactly what was being shown - if he or she WON the auction. My point was, that when a shill is in place, it leads unknowing bidders to believe that expensive stones are being won for bargain prices when in fact THEY ARE NOT. Secondly, I don't "fear" or "worry" about shills - why would I, when I totally understand and am aware of exactly what their purpose is, and how they work? The purpose of my post was to make others, and believe me there are many, who don't know this is going on and are wasting a lot of their time bidding on auctions with just a few bidders and thinking they are going to score a great deal, when in fact the chances of that happening are zero. And, also, to inquire about how many others see the same thing happening in their product searches. Lastly, I may be new to posting, but I have been participating in ebay auctions for many years and have been successfully sniping since the very beginning.
janet9988
·1 year agoThen why are you even complaining about other bidders or the auctions you bid on by stating they don't know? They may actually know just as much as you do.