eBay

blainedt · ‎09-08-2018

Went to bid on a couple of "vintage paintings" from a seller (not sure if I can link their accounts on here) and after I placed my starting bids, I ignored it for a few days and came back today to see the prices had skyrocketed. All the bidders were protected but it just seemed odd to me how the price jumped so much between my bid and the next one ($10 on my opening bid to $100 USD on the next one and then $256 the one after that). Looked around at their other items that were ending today and they all were bid on at right around the same time.

I also found out that on my phone, the bidders arent hidden and I looked around a bit and found it is almost always the same four accounts in some order doing the bidding and many times the order of the accounts bidding is the same. If you look on their ratings, there are several accounts doing tons of the rating. The names are different on my pc but the reviews are always the same. I've got screenshots off this crud with their accounts all bidding in the same order. This is part of the reason why I stopped using eBay years ago (scammers, shillers, etc) and it seems like its still a big problem and I'm fed up with it. Running up the prices on their own goods. Set a minimum if you don't want to let it go for any less.

I'm probably taking this too far, but I'm so sick of this stuff and honestly if I can make one shillers life a bit harder, I'm happy to do it. If eBay will do anything about it, that is. Dishonesty irks me to no end.

7606dennis · ‎09-08-2018

Actually, I'm not quite understanding what you mean by the bidder's not being hidden on your phone, but that doesn't particularly matter. I'm not sure that you understand how an auction works. Interested parties bid in competition with each other for the privilege of buying the item up for bid. It is expected that the price will rise.

It isn't particularly unusual for a relatively small group of collectors to bid on items. This is especially true in regard to artwork. I'm afraid that you have not made any sort of case for shilling with what you've posted thus far.

By the way, I'd be careful when it comes to accusing someone of criminal activity in a published forum such as this.

"It is an intelligent man that is aware of his own ignorance."

ed8108 · ‎09-08-2018

EBay provides sellers with the privilege of offering items for sale to potential buyers.

Sometimes there are buyers that will compete to acquire particular items, and sellers are indeed lucky when this does happen.

mudshark61369 · ‎09-09-2018

@blainedt,

Like the others have said the info you have written does not indicate or prove shill bidding. One thing missing is, you not mentioning if you looked at the bid histories with Show automatic bids enabled. The large jump in prices indicates that some automatic bids were placed. If you look at the bid history for the auction you bid on again, click on the Show automatic bids button and pay close attention to the time stamps of the bids, and the amounts of the grayed out bids. You also do not say if you feel the pieces you have looked at or bid on are worth the current prices or more.

When you placed your "starting bids" were you immediately outbid? Or does bids plural mean you bid on more than one item? If you placed several bids on an item or items, your bidding could look like you are the shill working for the seller, to the inexperienced eye.

"THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FOOLPROOF, BECAUSE FOOLS ARE SO DARNED INGENIOUS!" (unknown)

kitschy*loot · ‎09-09-2018

Are you saying the user names aren't scrambled on your phone and you can see the actual account name? Can you provide any kind of screenshot of this? Only partial user names of course, to protect the identity. I don't understand how you can see the actual account names when nobody else can.

little.font.lord.leroy · ‎09-09-2018

@kitschy*loot wrote:
Are you saying the user names aren't scrambled on your phone and you can see the actual account name? Can you provide any kind of screenshot of this? Only partial user names of course, to protect the identity. I don't understand how you can see the actual account names when nobody else can.

I believe that what he is saying is on his computer the names are blocked out with (Private Auction, buyers identity protected) or what ever.

It should be noted that there is no reason for private auctions, since names are now scrambled, so to have a private auction, that's a red flag and I always assume that means the seller is likely to be using shill accounts to bid.

Then when the OP looks at this auction on his phone the bidders names are scrambled (a***1) but he is now allowed to look at recent activity, and it indicates those bidders are only bidding on that seller, and those bidders bids seem to sync, as if the dealer is signing into account 1, bidding on all his auctions that all ready have a bidder, signing out then signing into shill account 2, to place a second bids on those same auctions, etc.

little.font.lord.leroy · ‎09-09-2018

@blainedt wrote:
I'm probably taking this too far, but I'm so sick of this stuff and honestly if I can make one shillers life a bit harder, I'm happy to do it. If eBay will do anything about it, that is. Dishonesty irks me to no end.

While your evidence is scant (eBay has designed it that way) But I still don't think you are taking it too far. I believe that silling is rampant on eBay and that eBay actively chooses to make it easier for shill bidding. It is in the best interest of eBay to do so. So, eBay tracking and punishing shill bidders, it the proverbial fox minding the hen house.

But I feel like you came here to complain. Your frustrated and you should be. I hope that complaining makes you feel better. But eBay does not read these boards. And a million buyers could complain about the same thing and I still doubt that eBay would do anything. EBay does not listen to complaints, not even threats to stop shopping at eBay. All eBay does is listen to the ca-ching of the cash register. If one million users stopped buying on eBay because of shill bidding, and by some stroke of magic not only was eBay able to determine that was why they quite and even accept that statistic -I still doubt that they would do anything about shill bidding. I would expect that they would either change the platform to disguise shill bidding even more, and wag some kind of campaign to assure buyers that there is no shilling bidding or they are concerned about it, blah, blah, blah. with out making a single effort to really stop shill bidding.

It just ain't going to happen. They don't punish or threaten shill bidders, just shill bidders who are dumb enough to create a shill bidding account with their same name, address and paypal. That shill seller will get a message like "we noticed suspicious activity" the operative word is "noticed" not "suspicious" a shiller with a lick of sence will create the appropriate (un-noticeable) shill accounts and carry on.

Arguing that "you can't prove shill bidding" or "shill bidding is not in the dealers interest" is like arguing that the earth is flat.

atikovi · ‎09-09-2018

@blainedt wrote:
This is part of the reason why I stopped using eBay years ago (scammers, shillers, etc) and it seems like its still a big problem and I'm fed up with it. Running up the prices on their own goods. Set a minimum if you don't want to let it go for any less.

Or as a bidder, bid a maximum you're willing to pay and don't worry what others are bidding.