Bid Retraction (Shill Bidder?)

[theweeknd95]

Hello, so I was looking at this pendant that was for auction. I bid on the item but was outbid. I saw that the seller had more listed just like it so I bid around $3.00 on those to see if I could become the highest bidder. (which is what I was willing to pay since I would find others similar for $4.00-$5.00 Buy It Now price.) I was outbid on all of them so I just moved on. Well later I get 4 emails saying You Won! Turns out the highest bidder retracted their bids and I was stuck with 4 of the same pendants for about $3.00 each. I contacted the seller and explained the situation but they havent replied. I decided to look more into it so I looked at the bidders history. It showed they only have 7 feedback. I then looked at the sellers sold items. The same person was the winning bidder on all of the items except the listings that sold for a higher price, they also retracted their bid on those listings so the item sold for more. This person has bid on items from 20 pages (200 listing on each page) from the same seller. To me that is just sketchy. I checked the sellers feedback and people are saying similar things like: no communication from seller, shill bidder beware, never shipped, didnt recieve item. One person left negative feedback saying "SCAM! Uses Fake SHILL BIDDER Against You To Jack Up Price Then Retracts Bid!" for over 20 items! (See last pic)

Is there anything I can do to cancel my order? I dont want to have to pay for 4 of the same item that I "won" in such a sketchy way and risk not even receiving the items. 

Pics attatched are examples of other listings that the same "highest bidder" retracted their bid to make the other bidder pay their highest bid. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

Even if a seller isn't sketchy, you can win an auction after you are outbid, if the higher bid(s) are retracted (by the bidder) or canceled (by eBay or the seller).

The feedback system is a very good tool, but only if you use it to check up on a seller BEFORE you bid/buy.

[*lady*madonna*]

You bid, you win, you pay regardless of your suspicions.

Did you check the seller's feedback BEFORE you placed your bids?

[mudshark61369 · Accepted solution]

@theweeknd95,

The info in the previous two replies is correct. Especially *lady*madonna*'s about bids being active until an auction ends, even if you are outbid.  You have enough experience on ebay, that you shoud know that already. 

Even though the mods have redacted the bid histories, I'll lay good odds the seller is located in China, where ebay is not allowed to track IP addresses.  Because of that chinese sellers have taken to placing an automatic bid as soon as their penny or ninety nine cent auctions begin.  They hope others will bid against the auto bid, and if it is not surpassed, the "bidder / shill" cancels their bid leaving the last bidder the winner.

Just one more reason to avoid bidding on auctions or buying from chinese sellers. 

Chances are good if you looked at the seller's store you might see they had the item(s) listed as BIN for around $5.

You can try calling customer service, and present your bid history information, but you are likely to be told you are responsible to pay for the items you won. 

[nowthatsjustducky]

Simple common sense says it is highly unlikely that most sellers would risk not only their ability to sell here, but also risk criminal prosecution by engaging in any bidding shenanigans on $5 items.

For all we know, those bid retractions could be from others who also put multiple bids out on different items and then retracted all except whatever one they won the cheapest.

[wilbur1philly]

I have been complaining to Ebay for MONTHS and they do NOTHING.

This shill bidder from China continues to drive up the prices on Zippo lighter auctions and then once he becomes the highest bidder, he retracts his bid.

He has done this 142 times in the last 30 days and 1254 times in the last 6 months.

30-Day Summary Total bids: 2610 Items bid on: 575   0% Bid retractions:

(30 days)142 Bid retractions

(6 months): 1254 Bid retractions