The Nth Degree Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 I'm bidding on an item which is ending tomorrow and we've got to the stage where there are only two bidding parties; me and this other character. So far, every bid that I've made has been quickly countered by a higher bid. Nothing odd there, but it got my haunches raised a bit. So I looked into the other bidder on the bidding history. My bidding partner is highly suspicious in his activity. During the last 30 day period he has bid on 57 items, but on 56 of those he has retracted his bid. This just stinks of shill bidding to me. I've contacted the lister but he isn't concerned at all, which increases the stink! The suspicious character has a high feedback of over 1000 so my thought is that, perhaps, the lister has multiple accounts and switches them around while using the inactive accounts for raising bids? I've looked at his other auctions and there is a similar, but not the same, bidder bidding for those items too. I'm not sure what happens in a bid retraction scenario - does he lose all his bids, therefore reducing the price quite dramatically, or does he lose just the last bids he made, which keeps the price quite high? Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinWalsh Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 I'd advise you use the live interactive help function to contact ebay admins, they can look into this and advise you accordingly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xerces Fobe2 Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Retract your bid and see if he does the same? OK you might lose the item but you will have effectively smoked him out, whatever happens XF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dagworth Posted October 29, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 29, 2012 If the other bidder retracts at the last then tell the seller that you will only pay bidder 3's bid plus £1 or whatever the increment is. This is what the bidding would have gone to without the shilling. If he refuses then report him to eBay for shill bidding. Andi Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Sorry, mate = but more fool you for keeping on bidding - let the early bidders go at it, and sit quietly throughout, put your bid in during the last 10 seconds, at whatever it is worth to you, and hope that your bid is more than the other bidder is planning on, and therefore wins. Every time you bid it gives them the chance to bump the price up! Shillers rely on people like you, that continually bid during the progress of the auction, to get them a higher price on the sale - play them at their own game Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Nth Degree Posted October 29, 2012 Author Share Posted October 29, 2012 I agree, Jack, but in this situation I put on a low bid then did a bit of research to find out what is was then upped my bid to my valuation of it, then topped it off a bit on a third bid. Normally, I make one bid then in the final throws make an additional bid (if I'm outbid) by around 10% - my contingency. I've reported the auction to ebay so I'll see what they come up with in their findings. Cheers for the advice, all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
class"66" Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 Had this happen to me on ebay in the past.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 If you suspect shill bidding just walk away - Your suspicions will usually be confirmed when the original seller relists the same item shortly after the auction ends... Then do a test bid and wait and see what happens... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 Report them to Ebay, they will then check him out. I would phone Ebay and in the past have found the agents very helpfull Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swifty11 Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Hmm... Unfortunently this happens a fair amount on EBay, It's happened to me but I played it to my advantage! There was a guy who (must have been trying to raise bids) Who had put a stupid amount of money as a bid, now I knew the model was worth about £70-80. But this guy must have had a bid in at at least £100+ so I put my bid of £83.50 in and left it. As I thought, no point paying more than its worth, plus I thought he was a bit of a strange character who was my opponent. Anyway, as he'd realised I wasn't going to be playing bidding wars he gave up and within seconds of it ending he withdrew his bid and very nicely I got a nice new 57602 at about the right price, However they don't always play out this way. (edit, dodgy iPad typing fixed) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted July 11, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 11, 2013 There was a guy who (must have been trying to raise bids) Who had put a stupid amount of money as a bid, now I knew the model was worth about £70-80. But this guy must have had a bid in at at least £100+ so I put my bid of £83.50 in and left it. As I thought, no point paying more than its worth, plus I thought he was a bit of a strange character who was my opponent. Anyway, as he'd realised I wasn't going to be playing bidding wars he gave up and within seconds of it ending he withdrew his bid and very nicely I got a nice new 57602 at about the right price, This is the only sensible way to bid. You know what sum seems right to you, and if you don't go seriously above it, you can't be ripped off on price alone. Only the desperate (it happens when there are just no supplies of something), the deluded (they take a collectors' market price and think it normal) and the drunk (don't ask) pay silly money on ebay. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium M.I.B Posted July 17, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 17, 2013 Get an auction snipe program - they are free. Auction Stealer is one. HammerSnipe is another. If you believe that an item is worth X, place your bid of X minus the P&P , and that way you will never pay more than X. You will frequently pay less. It is Shill proof. And you never get carried away or pay over your maximum. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
auld_boot Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Sadly using a snipe program is not completely Shill proof, the latest trick I've noticed is to put a starting bid as a Shill bid, I assume to avoid paying ebay for a reserve price. I vary rarely buy from ebay now, it's so easy to find proof of Shill bidding and reporting it seems to have no effect. This one and his seller has been reported for a couple of weeks now but the items still keep getting listed and relisted if the Shill bidder wins. I've worked in IT for for more years than I care to mention and I'm pretty sure it would be a doddle to write a report that would automatically highlight this type of activity, it's just not in their interest to do so as sale prices would drop and so would their profit. That's my Sunday morning rant over! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruffalo Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Sadly using a snipe program is not completely Shill proof, the latest trick I've noticed is to put a starting bid as a Shill bid, I assume to avoid paying ebay for a reserve price. I vary rarely buy from ebay now, it's so easy to find proof of Shill bidding and reporting it seems to have no effect. This one and his seller has been reported for a couple of weeks now but the items still keep getting listed and relisted if the Shill bidder wins. I've worked in IT for for more years than I care to mention and I'm pretty sure it would be a doddle to write a report that would automatically highlight this type of activity, it's just not in their interest to do so as sale prices would drop and so would their profit. That's my Sunday morning rant over! BidHistory.jpg That one may have popped up a couple of times when I have looked at one or two things! I seem to remember prices being driven upwards beyond what I felt was a fair price. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium M.I.B Posted July 21, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 21, 2013 Sadly using a snipe program is not completely Shill proof, the latest trick I've noticed is to put a starting bid as a Shill bid, I assume to avoid paying ebay for a reserve price. One shill bidder will not raise the level of an item sufficiently high enough to make a false reserve. If an item is started at 99p (to avoid reserve fees) and his "shill" puts in a bid, that bid will go no higher than 99p plus the first bid increment at most (20p for most categories). Usually it'll stay at 99p. If you want to avoid reserve prices you need 2 shill bidders. Place the item on at 99p. Shiller # 1 bids to £50 so it registers at 99p. Shiller #2 bids at £51. The price is now £50.99. A false reserve has been created. Lesson - if an item quickly rises to above what you want to pay for it - don't bid or retract your snipe and save that "shot" for something genuine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 If shill bidder 1 puts £50, then your next bid will have to be over that amount - no need for the second shill bidder.Of course, if you only put a bid of £30, then the price will only go to, say, £31 and you don't win the item. The seller has still effectively got a hidden reserve price. In the past, I have seen items with a reserve price unknown but bidding has taken it to a certain level and it says "reserve not met" (or something similar). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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