I suspect an item I won on ebay was shilled at the last minute to jack up the price

[perfumenmore]

I was watching an auction and decided to bid on it.  It was one price for almost 7 days with only two bidders bidding with 50 cent increments. Only two bids were placed at that time by two different users.  I used a proxy service to do the bidding for me because I work two jobs which places the bid within the last seconds of the auction.  Right before the auction closed someone placed a large bid that was more than half the amount of the second bid.  It seems so obvious it was shilling that it is ridiculous.  No one is going to bid more than half the amount of the item.  Additionally, the price right now with shipping is what I could have paid for the item new.  I no longer want this item because I suspect foul play here.  I don't want to get the seller in trouble with ebay but I don't want to be ripped off either.  What should I do?

[fuzzface50]

Rarely shill bidding happen at the  auction end. 

Lots of people will bid at auction end. they will bid what the item is worth to them because they know they are only going to get just the one bid in so it isn't uncommon to bid more than half of what the item is already.  You did with your  proxy bid so why not no one else.

why did you proxy bid that amount if you are not going to honor it?

You bid, you bleepin pay for it or you can be added to a few best buddies list.

[perfumenmore]

This literally stinks to the high heavens.  What I did is because I can't sit at the computer all day to bid. I work two jobs.  Someone bidding more than half the amount of the second bid is **bleep**.  I am going to contact the seller.  Let them sell the product to the bidder before me who placed the high bid because I no longer want something I think was done fraudulently. 

[alcoforever]

What was the item number?   One of us can take a look at the bid history and get a better idea of whether or not there was shilling.

I suspect that what you encountered was just normal snipe bidding by someone who valued the item almost as much as you.

[buyselljack2016]

I rarely bid on auctions, but when I do I bid my max as late in the auction as I can.

Bids are not done based on the present bid amount, but on the amount that I am willing to pay.

Did you expect the other bidder to bid 50 cents over the current bid? That is not how it works with an eBay auction.

It is not an "outcry" auction where the bidding goes up, often slowly.

The other bidder did just as you did. They bid what they were willing to pay.

Your bid indicated that you were willing to pay more than they were.

[perfumenmore]

It wasn't snipe bidding. It wasn't even using eBay's proxy bidding. It was an outright bid that was more than double the price of the second bid. 

[perfumenmore]

That's not only crazy but stupid.  Why would you bid more than half the last bid amount?  No one with a brain would do that. 

[buyselljack2016]

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@perfumenmore wrote:

That's not only crazy but stupid.  Why would you bid more than half the last bid amount?  No one with a brain would do that. 

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Think about it. You did.

They did not know what your bid was. All they would see is a bid one increment over the other bidder.

When they placed their bid, your bid advanced 1 increment over their bid.

As a seller you should understand how bidding works.

[perfumenmore]

That's not what happened here.  Someone placed a bid that was more than half the amount of the last bid. No one does that. 

[alcoforever]

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@perfumenmore wrote:

That's not what happened here.  Someone placed a bid that was more than half the amount of the last bid. No one does that. 

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Yes they do.   Happens all the time with desirable items that are way undervalued in the last minute of an auction.    I have seen items go from $30 to $180 in the last 30 seconds.

[ed8108]

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@perfumenmore wrote:.  What should I do?

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Pay your bill & be happy that you won your item & beat the competition

[buyselljack2016]

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@perfumenmore wrote:

That's not what happened here.  Someone placed a bid that was more than half the amount of the last bid. No one does that. 

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Sure it is .

If the bid 50 cents more than the bid that was showing they would just move the bidding up by one increment. Well actually two because it would then have moved your bid up one increment above theirs even though you had proxy bid more than that.

Now that buyer has been out bid by one increment. ( well, that is all it shows, because that is all that was needed to outbid them.) eBay only uses as much of your proxy bid as needed to keep you ahead.....  by one increment.

Now that buyer makes another bid 50 cents above what is showing. Oh darn, they get outbid again because eBay again uses just enough of your bid to keep you in the lead.

Instead of bidding one increment at a time the other bidder made a bid at the amount that they were willing to pay, and your bid was higher.

That does not fit the pattern of a shill bidder. A shill would have driven your bid up slowly, or made a big, big bid to find out what your max was. Their bid would show one increment above yours. They would then know your max, retract their bid, and bid just below your max.

If a bid is at $10 for something that I want, and am willing to pay $50 for, I am not going to bid $10.50 cents.  With 7 seconds left in the listing,  I am going to place a bid. If I win it will be 1 increment above what someone else bid. If I lose, my bid will be 1 increment below the high bidder. That's how it works.

[buyselljack2016]

ran out of edit time:

With 7 seconds left in the listing, I am going to place a (edit $50.01)  bid.

[lightlily_arts]

There are many people who snipe bid within the last few seconds of an auction.  They bid their max because we know others are doing the same thing.  As an example I was watching an item that started at $9.99 and they were two small bids.  I bid  $35 at the last moment and won the item for $19.95.

[*madison]

Right before the auction closed someone placed a large bid 

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Nothing to see here, shill bidders don't bid with large bids right before the auction ends because they might win, shill bidders don't want to win, they just want to bump up the price.. Anyone who places a large bid right before the auctions ends are bidding to win, but it doesn't always work if their large bid isn't large enough.