Sellers can cheat on their auctions

[happy2with1]

I noticed now that sellers can ask a friend or somebody to bid in their auctions. Also, can happen that they maybe have another account. Who knows, in this world whoever wants to cheat really finds the way to do it which is disgusting. It is not allowed for sellers for what I got told one time from an eBay C.S. representative to do that, like asking somebody because eBay can tell but I think eBay can't because is impossible to know how many people the sellers know. What sellers can do is that when they see the highest amount and it's ok for them to get that amount another person can bid close to it until they almost reach the highest one and leave it like that an have the bidder pay for the amount the seller was good to get. 

When you bid and you are still low on the amount you bid on, eBay tells you that somebody else bided you and to bid more, so it happened to me already after winning some items and seeing the bids amounts before mine and it is so obvious that the seller knows and ask somedy with an ebay account to bid on his, hers because exacty when even for one cent close, that bidder stoped because if continues biding will pass my amount, so yes, I don't know exactly how I can explain all, but yes, becareful on your maxium amount you bid on if you are expecting that nobody wanting to bid more than you, I willl recommend being at the time of the auction ending to get a better price. It's risky but better. 

I will post a picture later with the explanations for everybody to understand, it's kind of complicated to explain it well. 

[onthelake4854]

HUH???

This diatribe make very little sense

Where on earth do you get "When you bid and you are still low on the amount you bid on, eBay tells you that somebody else bided you and to bid more, so it happened to me already after winning some items and seeing the bids amounts before mine and it is so obvious that the seller knows and ask somedy with an ebay account to bid on hisit is so obvious that the seller knows and ask somedy with an ebay account to bid on his, hers because exacty when even for one cent close, that bidder stoped  "

NO - IT IS NOT "OBVIOUS". In fact it sounds like a nutty conspiracy theory!

You have NO IDEA who the other bidder is!!   The IDs are concealed.

Those of you who insist on bidding (and bidding and bidding again) while the auction runs often have put in a higher bid in than is showing - often but no always.  Nibble bidders go one bid increment at a time or keep bidding again and again in little increments when another bid comes in that was higher as if they have to be the high bidder through out the auction rather  than jsut being the high bidder at the end!

Item starts at 99 cents.  Bidder puts in $299.99.  It show a bid of 99 cents. You bid $1.24 and then trickle your way up in price endless bid after endless bis. You finally get to where the screen shows "you have been out bid.  Current bid is $295 Enter at least $300."  You put in $300 and presto you are up by 1 cent.  The fact that the first bidder doesn't come back does NOT mean it was rigged.

Conversely you keep bidding and bidding but quit when it tells you that you are still outbid and the current bid is $295 and you have to enter $300.......yeah YOU just ran the bidding up but won't bid enough to pass the other bidder and forced the other person to spend more money than they would have without you.

If you think the price is going too high, no one is holding a gun to your head to make you bid more - just QUIT!

Pretty clear you do not understand Ebay auto-bidding or  timed auctions or those of us who wait until the very last second to put in our maximum bid.

[mudshark61369]

@happy2with1,

What you are describing is called shill bidding, and it is not as easy to do as many think. Many sellers have 2 or more IDs, but they cannot bid from their other ones, because ebay tracks the originating IP addresses and would block bids from a shared address.

Getting friends to bid, or bidding from a remote location, isn't easy either, since the object of shill bidding is to run the price up, without becoming the winner.  There is a delicate balance there, and too many wins and with cancellations is a red flag for eBay. 

"What sellers can do is that when they see the highest amount and it's ok for them to get that amount another person can bid close to it until they almost reach the highest one and leave it like that an have the bidder pay for the amount the seller was good to get". 

First off, sellers cannot see a bidder's maximum bid. They only see the current bid price. An auction may start at $25, and someone may place an early high bid, but the seller does not know that. All they know is someone bid the opening amount, and the next person will have to bid a minumum of $26. 

What does happen to those who place an early high automatic bid, is that some people will continue bidding against it until they unmask that bid amount.  If it is more than they are willing to pay, they cancel their bids.  That is actually a policy violation, but eBay has decided not to do anything about it. 

Then there are those who bid one increment at a time against other bidders, (nibble bidding) A bidding war ensues until one drops out.  There is nothing illegal about that, but it is a poor bidding strategy. One or another of the bidders is reacting to others bids, which puts them at a disadvantage, especially at the end of an auction. 

If you place a high bid early and it is close to what an item usually sells for, why wouldn't you expect others to do the same thing?  They may bid a little more, or a little less but their bid willl be close to the average selling price.

The one thing you have right, is that the best bidding strategy is to bid at the very end of an auction, (sniping) and bid the most you are willing to pay. That gives other bidders little or no time to react to that bid.  Do keep in mind that others do the same thing, and may use a bidding/sniping service that can place bids in the very last second.  You can actually be decalred the winner, but if you refresh the page, you may find you were outbid, by a fraction of a second.  Snipers win auctions by only a few cents all the time as well, because they do not bid even dollar amounts.

[duggmills]

I guess I'll have to wait for that picture " ... with the explanations for everybody to understand...."

[castlemagicmemories]

Interesting theory, but that is all it is.

It seems that you are nibble bidding.  That style of bidding usually doesn't work.

You are bidding reactively, in response to other's bids.  When you bid, you are not guaranteed to be the only bidder, or the winning bidder, and many wait til almost the end to bid.  If they bid their max, and it is more than your bid, then yes, they will win.  If it is less than your bid, it will raise your bid to their level plus a bid increment.

Sorry.  

[7606dennis]

Frankly, the 53 bid retractions showing on your record could cause some of your fellow bidders to question you're actually bidding in good faith, OP.

[a*river*runs*through*it]

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@7606dennis wrote:

Frankly, the 53 bid retractions showing on your record could cause some of your fellow bidders to question you're actually bidding in good faith, OP.

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And fellow sellers.

[maninthemoon_6]

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@7606dennis wrote:

Frankly, the 53 bid retractions showing on your record could cause some of your fellow bidders to question you're actually bidding in good faith, OP.

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Maybe the OP is trying to describe what they do?

[7606dennis]

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@maninthemoon_6 wrote:

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@7606dennis wrote:

Frankly, the 53 bid retractions showing on your record could cause some of your fellow bidders to question you're actually bidding in good faith, OP.

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Maybe the OP is trying to describe what they do?

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I'm not quite sure about the OP "...trying to describe..." anything.  It would appear that they are trying to do what they seem to be accusing sellers of doing.  

[castlemagicmemories]

OP, sellers can and do block for bid retractions.  You are seriously jeopardizing your buying privileges.

They say 80% of listings are fixed price, immediate payment required.

I recommend you buy using these listings.

Good Luck.

[castlemagicmemories]

With all due respect, Op seems to have four issues, judging by his other thread.

1.  He thinks shipping is too high and he should choose the carrier.

2.  He thinks sellers are having friends bid up their listings to raise the price.

3.  Excessive bid retractions.

4.  Possibly does not understand how Ebay works.

New users may not understand how Ebay, auctions, shipping, etc., works.  Reading about these things will help.  

OP has been on Ebay almost a year with over a thousand feedbacks, thus he is not a new user.

[max39666]

I could care less how many nibble bids or retracts--i enter my max bid at the start or the last few seconds of a listing- -either i win at my max or hopefully less or i don't win.

Not sure why so many posts with concerns of shilling or retracts--etc etc?

But then some bidders feel if their bid loses--there has to be something illegal going on and can't except the fact that someone bid the price up--or was willing to give more.

Buy it now listings remove all doubts of concern--just not at the low price some bidders expect to win  via a  auction.

[mudshark61369]

@max39666,

"Not sure why so many posts with concerns of shilling or retracts--etc etc"?

Maybe there are many concerns about shill bidding because it is illegal.  People who retract bids give the appearance of shill bidding, though often that is not why bids are retracted. 

People often retract because they later find the same item for less, or think another auction will end for less.  Some start bidding against an early automatic max bid, uncover it and retract, if it is more than they are willing to pay, which is an ebay policy violation.

In any of the scenarios above, those actions degrade peoples faith in fair eBay auctions.  While only buying from BIN listings is fine for many items sold on the site. There are many items that sell for better prices in the auction format.   However, if people feel the bidding is being rigged, they will stop bidding on auctions, which has several ramifications, for buyers, sellers and for eBay. 

[chrysylys]

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@mudshark61369 wrote:

What you are describing is called shill bidding, and it is not as easy to do as many think. Many sellers have 2 or more IDs, but they cannot bid from their other ones, because ebay tracks the originating IP addresses and would block bids from a shared address..

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It's not really that difficult for people that know how to hide or spoof IP addresses.  Those that may be less than honorable have that knowledge and the ability to use it easily while completely concealing their tracks.

[mudshark61369]

@max39666,

I forgot to address the comment below in my last reply.

"I could care less how many nibble bids or retracts--i enter my max bid at the start or the last few seconds of a listing- -either i win at my max or hopefully less or i don't win".

How would you feel if your hidden from the seller and other buyers maximum bid price was exposed by a nibbler. Who then reracted their last bid with less than 12 hours left in the auction, which means only their last bid was retracted not all of them.  So now you artificially paid a higher price, than you would have if that person was the only other bidder.

Then you look at the person's 30 day bid history and see they have dozens or more bid retractions in the last 6 months. Maybe because they do not bid on auctions often, it shows their percentage of bids wit that seller was 75%.  

You might not care but many others do.