Hahaha. Just stop repeating yourself over and over and kidding yourself. You have 5 pages worth of members saying what you are doing is in violation, illegal, and unethical. How many more do you need? And yes, all 5 pages worth of members here are probably the same “fake bidders” you mention that are out to get you.
Some people already said it, but here are my initial reactions to stuff you said as I read the entire (and interestingly entertaining) thread. You clearly tried to make the optimal auction to fetch the highest price, get the best exposure, and quickest duration. Feel free to reply or defend yourself to each point I make.
1) Your 1 day listing was hoping to end before ebay caught on (optimization)
2) 99c start increases exposure and attracts attention (optimization). Also it gives the cheapest insertion fee. Why didn’t you just remove all the high and “fake bids” as you claim and end the auction early making the buyer who bid $30-$40 the winner? Instead you wanted it to run as high as you can get.
3) Free shipping also increases exposure and attracts attention. I’m guessing the price difference using FC and Priority Mail is about 4-5 dollars. Sacrificing that on a $300+ listing is negligible for the exposure.
4) 10% donation also is an attempt to attract attention and disguise your gouging (and get that little ribbon icon on your listing). 10% is the bare minimum amount required to be able to advertise on your listing that you donate. Ebay doesn’t allow you to donate any less. If there was no minimum, I’d bet you would donate 1% just to get the ribbon and attention. If you were so willing to help, why didn’t you donate 100%?
And stop lying, your previous fixed price listing of $175 for a 10pk DID NOT have a donation attached to it. We can see the listing. You mention you were the lowest price on eBay. That’s because everyone selling it on eBay is also in violation (banned item) and price gouging. You say you want to see the true value is. I assume you mean MSRP. How much did you get them for? I found out the general MSRP in 1 minute. And I did it without having to list a banned item and price gouge. I just googled “n95 mask target” and got this site https://www.kuow.org/stories/n95-masks-spotted-at-target-in-seattle-meanwhile-hospitals-can-t-find-e...
It says it right on top, they charged 6.79 for a 2pk. Do you still think your listing for $175 for 10pk isn’t gouging? Also if you continue to read that article I linked, it says Target mistakenly put them up for sale (at more than 80% cheaper than your $175 price) and STILL apologized and donated all those masks to nearby hospitals.
You’ve lost all credibility. I don’t even believe that you donated masks. Heck, I don’t even believe that the $175 fixed price listing is a non payer, especially because of that great feedback you got. You can respond to my statements if you want. But if I were you, I’d just give it up man. You already said you’d move on 2 pages ago. You’ve already weaved a very tangled web.
