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]

"Someone placed a bid that was more than half the amount of the last bid. No one does that. "

I do. Lots of people do.   I might be an early proxy bidder and I only bid once so I put in the MAXIMUM bid I am willing to go  to then.  I don't base my bid by what the last SHOWING bid is.  There might be a hidden proxy bid in play or if snipers show up, I have no time to rebid so I bid my MAXIMUM right away.

Even snipers put their MAXIMUM bid in when they bid, they never base their bid by what is showing, they know more snipers might show up and have no idea if the highest bidder so far has a  big proxy bid in.  THEY ALL BID ACCORDING TO WHAT THE ITEM IS WORTH TO THEM NOT BY WHAT THE SHOWING HIGH BID IS.

Thinking no one is going to bid over $15.00 because the showing high bid is $10.00 is completely flawed.  I have seen an auction go from $30,000 to over $220,000 in the last 10 seconds but your theory it should be null and voided because it went over $45,000.  

Lots of us have more than 1 job and we always place our maximum bid price not base it on what is showing at the time. 

Still cannot figure out why you even bid that amount if you are just plan on not paying for it.  Welcome to many best buddy lists and if you do it again in less than a year you will be here complaining why so many sellers have you blocked automatically.

As I said before I will bid my proxy bid early, sometimes it is double, triple or even 20 times more than the showing bid but the main difference between us is I pay for my winning bid no matter how high it went and no matter when.  When the auction ends and I am the winner, I pay.  

[mudshark61369]

@perfumenmore,

   ''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".

Not one of the previous 6 respondents agrees with you, but you keep sticking to your argument that no one else bids the way you did, by bidding the most you were willing to pay.  We could settle this easily if we could see the item number or a screen shot of the Bid History w/ Show Automatic Bids enabled. The time stamps of the bids will tell us the story. 

  "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'm sorry but that statement makes your whole discussion sound like buyer's remorse rather than a worry that a shill was in play. You bid close to what the item cost new, Hoping that no one would bid close to that amount, (nuclear bidding) but someone did and now you are mad about having to pay close to the price of the item if bought new.  At least one of the others who has replied, admits that they frequently do the same thing.

  "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?"

You should pay!!!  You can report your suspicions about the seller, but chances are eBay will not find any wrong doing, based on what you have described.  You entered into a contract to pay if you won at your highest bid amount, and you should honor it.  Maybe the seller would honor a cancellation request, but they do not have to, in which case they might file an Unpaid Item Dispute (UID) and if you refuse to pay, you will get an unpaid item strike. 

[fuzzface50]

Mudshark is correct, never nuclear bid because someone else might do the same thing and you don't want to be the winner when that happens.   I will bid the MAXIMUM I am willing to pay but I never nuclear bid.  unfortunately I have seen a few nuclear bidders out there, they think they want to win no matter what until someone else nuclear bids against them.

again I agree with Mudshark that this is sounding like buyers remorse here.

don't worry about me, I updated my list on all accounts and I am out of this thread for good. 

[thilu62]

Placing a much higher price at the last minute is definitely very unusual. But it is not wrong with auction rules. So you have to accept that. Please cheer up and continue bidding for another product. Good luck.

[fjbet13]

It seems like you put in a proxy bid at a high amount because you wanted to be sure to get the item no matter what someone else bid. That's exactly what happened.  Why would you place a bid for an amount you were not willing to pay, especially if you could go out and buy it new for that price?  Seller hasn't done anything wrong here IMO.

[*madison]

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@thilu62 wrote:

Placing a much higher price at the last minute is definitely very unusual. 

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No it isn't unusual, some late bidders place large bids to try and outbid the other bidders, they place a large bid because they don't know the other bidders max bid amounts, and they might not have any time left to place another bid.

I'm a nuke bidder, my late bids are massive, well over what the item is worth, but I only do it if I really want the item,  I always win those auctions..

I don't advise bidders to nuke bid though because it can go wrong if there is another nuke bidder. It hasn't gone wrong for me so far, but I have the money to back up my nuke bid if another nuke bidder takes my bid to the max.

I was watching an auction a few months ago, and I there was 2 nuke bidders at the end, so I have seen what can happen, I don't know if the winning nuke bidder paid though..

[myangelandmyprincess]

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@perfumenmore wrote:

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. 

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You don't think there are other people (like the other bidder) would do the exact same thing because they are in the same situation?  What you're describing isn't usually how a shill bid works.  

[eurobmw-5]

The original poster has vanished i don't think they got the response they were looking for, no justification here!!   You bid you pay!@

[myangelandmyprincess]

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@eurobmw-5 wrote:

The original poster has vanished i don't think they got the response they were looking for, no justification here!!   You bid you pay!@

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Well they said they work two jobs so may be at work.  

Op is definitely confused about the bidding process.  Someone bid at the last minute hoping to win but the ops bid was higher.  Op does need to pay hopefully they can understand what happens and will pay the seller 

[7606dennis]

I'm not seeing where what you are describing is shilling.  It sounds like you are describing what is commonly known on eBay as sniping.  This is a bidding strategy often used by bidders in connection with auctions having a finite bidding period.  The bidder's purpose in using this strategy is to place their bid as close to the end of the bidding period as possible in order to keep other bidders from having time to raise their bid after the sniper places his.  Of course, if the other persons hidden maximum is higher than that of the bid placed by the sniper, the other bidder wins although for an amount higher than the sniper's bid.

The main way to avoid paying more than you wish for an item is to know when to quit bidding.  You must know precisely how much you are willing to pay for the item and never bid more than that amount.  While it is good to place your bid as close to the end of the bidding period as possible, it should be remembered that the highest bid will be the winner and that in case of a tie, the bid placed first wins.

[7606dennis]

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@*madison wrote:

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@thilu62 wrote:

Placing a much higher price at the last minute is definitely very unusual. 

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No it isn't unusual, some late bidders place large bids to try and outbid the other bidders, they place a large bid because they don't know the other bidders max bid amounts, and they might not have any time left to place another bid.

I'm a nuke bidder, my late bids are massive, well over what the item is worth, but I only do it if I really want the item,  I always win those auctions..

I don't advise bidders to nuke bid though because it can go wrong if there is another nuke bidder. It hasn't gone wrong for me so far, but I have the money to back up my nuke bid if another nuke bidder takes my bid to the max.

I was watching an auction a few months ago, and I there was 2 nuke bidders at the end, so I have seen what can happen, I don't know if the winning nuke bidder paid though..

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It sounds to me like the OP might have been the one placing a nuke bid and is upset that someone bid more than the OP really wanted to pay.  

[7606dennis]

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@eurobmw-5 wrote:

The original poster has vanished i don't think they got the response they were looking for, no justification here!!   You bid you pay!@

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You may be correct.

[perfumenmore]

I looked at the bid history. Even Ebay’s proxy service doesn’t bid like that. It doesn’t jump from one bid to more than half the amount of the last bid in one bid. I’ve been bidding for years and only a few times I saw bidding where one person will continuously bid against themselves jacking the price up in obvious shell bidding. I don’t bid on those items. But I never saw bidding like this.

It’s not buyer’s remorse. It’s a question of a level playing field. I’ve since paid for the product but it still left me with a bad taste in my mouth. There wouldn’t be a law against shill bidding if people didn’t do it. That’s just a fact.

[perfumenmore]

I have no issue with what I was willing to pay. I have an issue with it being done fairly.

[myangelandmyprincess]

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@perfumenmore wrote:

I looked at the bid history. Even Ebay’s proxy service doesn’t bid like that. It doesn’t jump from one bid to more than half the amount of the last bid in one bid. I’ve been bidding for years and only a few times I saw bidding where one person will continuously bid against themselves jacking the price up in obvious shell bidding. I don’t bid on those items. But I never saw bidding like this.

It’s not buyer’s remorse. It’s a question of a level playing field. I’ve since paid for the product but it still left me with a bad taste in my mouth. There wouldn’t be a law against shill bidding if people didn’t do it. That’s just a fact.

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Yes it can work that way.  If the bidder puts in a large bid it will bid up to that bid.  If you look at the history you will see show automatic bids.  If you click that it will show all the bids eBay made for that person in a proxy bid.  

You still havent shared the item number which would help 

a shill bidder doesn't bid a high amount at the last minute that's the tactic of someone trying to win by sniping.  A shill slowly bids up in increments trying to reach your maximum bid.