Auction but bids not allowed

[Anonymous]

A seller is auctioning item but has a photo with statement that reads, "Please Read!! I am selling this on behalf of my company. This item can be purchased at the buy it now price only, no bidding allowed, pleas do not bid. all bids will be removed!!! We do not respond through eBay messages!!! If you want to buy it now, pleas contact us only at (email address) Please include the stock number provided in the description.

Is this allowed, can you have an auction and not allow bids.

[house*of*paws]

Hi @Anonymous 

No.  It is NOT allowed.

You can use the Report Item link in the listing to inform eBay.

[stainlessenginecovers]

No; every part of that listing is ebay-illegal.

They are

A.) Wanting you to contact OUTSIDE of ebay

B.) They shouldn't even be allowed to put an email address in the listing

C.) They are avoiding paying fees by selling OUTSIDE of ebay

D.) Anyone that does it will get NO PROTECTION from ebay for buying OUTSIDE of ebay.

E.) There is a 'report listing' link down on the right, small but can be found. Eventually someone will report and the listing will be removed. 

[eburtonlab]

That is a scam.

Most likely the account has been hijacked, and the scammer is trying to get users to contact the scammer directly so the scammer can steal payments from users since the scammer does not have access to the bank account associated with the eBay account.

Report the listing to eBay using the "Report item" link in the listing description body on the right side of the page.

There are several possible categories that can be used to report such a scam such as "contact info in the listing", "avoiding eBay fees" or "binding bids" but this set should work for most any suspicious listing:

[redmodelt]

Use the report button. Would have to do some digging, but there are rules about posting information in the photos, not allowed. They are breaking a number of rules, taking the sale off the platform, posting email address to start with. 

[maxine*j]

Sounds like a hijacked account to me, with everything about it wrong and everything about it screaming SCAM!  Do, please, report it.

-

[mr_lincoln]

@Anonymous   Use the "Report this item" link on that listing, advise eBay they are soliciting Off eBay sales through the pictures on the listing.

Mr. L

[ckimodog]

A few weeks ago someone reported the same thing.  I looked up the item no. the op posted and noticed they were drop shipping from the US.  They advertised in a photo  not to bid or buy, but to contact them outside of ebay.  They were in the UK.  I checked the item again a few days later and the majority of their listings were removed.  There was close to 25,000.  You should report this person.  Others have displayed in their replies  how you can do it. 

[danielk2852]

This scam is growing like crazy on eBay. Every time it's the same thing, an item with a very low price and the second photo always states "Please Read. No bidding allowed."  with an e-mail address saying you can buy the item at the "buy it now" price. 

eBay needs to start cracking down on these listings, because it's spreading like crazy. 

[ckimodog]

@danielk2852 

This thread is almost a year old and the person who started it is NARU.  

[slippinjimmy]

Don't think I've ever seen this on the boards?

[ckimodog]

@slippinjimmy 

It is rather an odd ID. I ran their profile.  Naru. Overseas member. 

[kh-vince]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.