ebay scammers?

[techster85]

Hey guys,
I've been trying to get a Nikon 18-200 on ebay for my fiance. Everytime I bid, I get out bid by someone with a name that starts with "bidder" and then a number. I just looked down the list on ebay, and EVERY lens that is being sold by an individual is currently being won by one of the "bidder" people (their names look like "bidder5", "bidder7", etc.). Am I wrong or is it just a bunch of scammers trying to run up the bids so that bidders will go with the shady companies selling out of Staton Island?

EDIT: Scratch that, I figured it out, my bad

 

[ChrisA]

Hey guys,
I've been trying to get a Nikon 18-200 on ebay for my fiance. Everytime I bid, I get out bid by someone with a name that starts with "bidder" and then a number. I just looked down the list on ebay, and EVERY lens that is being sold by an individual is currently being won by one of the "bidder" people (their names look like "bidder5", "bidder7", etc.). Am I wrong or is it just a bunch of scammers trying to run up the bids so that bidders will go with the shady companies selling out of Staton Island?

EDIT: Scratch that, I figured it out, my bad

Yes, you figured it out (eBay is covering the real bidder's name) but what ebay is doing helps people to do the kind of scams you were thinking of. Why would ebay do this? Easy, eBay is funded by the sellers making the sellers happy is what keeps them coming back. Making it easier to bid on your own auction makes sellers happy... There are almost certainly many sellers who have multiple accounts. Covering the account name makes this very hard to track. Again, they try to keep the best customers happy

 

[mcmadhatter]

They are thinking of taking this function away again soon to stop shill bidding

 

[Sdashiki]

im completely AGAINST shill bidding, but think of this "less than legit" scenario that doesnt neccessarily need to be done by a lifelong scammer, but by a poor ebayer who wants a little more for their item:

item bid up to $100, seller really wanted $150

seller has friend bid on the item, up to $149, and hopefully the other bidders proxy bid will push this up. but, maybe the friend will win the auction now, which leaves the seller the option to relist or send a 2nd chance offer, which is always in the amount of the 2nd highest bidders proxy bid.


in this case, it wasnt from start to finish a scam, but nonetheless, happens alot more often than not.

though, shill bidding to push a high bidders bid higher, thru proxy, is not as big of a slap in the face as blatant greed pushing the highest bid way above proxy hoping to be outbid by a legit bidder....


IMO, i wouldnt feel bad about having a friend "lightly push" an item up a few bucks, but when you sell something on ebay they have this "show completed items" search that will show you what your item (assuming it is not a rare collectible) has gone for in the past, 99% of the time, the going price for yours will be the same. negating the need for shillbidding, because you knew what youd get, and if you wanted more, you wouldnt sell on ebay.

 

[JBazz]

I just reported someone for the same thing.

If you click on the "bidder", it will reveal what percentage of bidding/winning is with that seller.

I put my bid in for a Carrera y Carrera ring and noticed that someone came along and bid several times until they just outbid me, then withdrew the last bid...pushing me to my max bid. When someone else came along and outbid me, the same bidder came back and wound up winning the ring by trying to bump it yet again. After the fake ID won it, it was relisted the same day. Both IDs were canceled.

 

[wmmk]

yeah. ebay has gone nuts lately. nikon SB-24s are going for above retail! I'm getting a used vivitar 285 off of keh instead.

 

[-hh]

The problems that eBay has allowed to happen with Shill bidding fraud is pretty much why I've almost completely stopped using eBay.

I'd almost rather go one of those shady Brooklynn dealers, because at least for them, I know where to take the can of gasoline to if I get really ticked off

My general policy with eBay is that as soon as I suspect a shill's involved in the item I'm interested in, I am gone.



-hh

 

[-hh]

The problems that eBay has allowed to happen with Shill bidding fraud is pretty much why I've almost completely stopped using eBay.

I'd almost rather go one of those shady Brooklynn dealers, because at least for them, I know where to take the can of gasoline to if I get really ticked off

My general policy with eBay is that as soon as I suspect a shill's involved in the item I'm interested in, I am gone.



-hh

 

[Kronie]

Ebay is no longer a good place to buy, only sell. (although saying that, I just picked up a brand new apple mini display port to DVI for $12 shipped)

Selling is getting sketchy. too many fraudulent accounts and scammers out there. It doesn't help that every six months ebay/ paypal's fees go up.

 

[Sdashiki]

If you used ebay lately youd see the "1 click bid" thing which you can use as the auction comes to a close.

Hitting it over and over counts as a bid and goes up the "1 increment" allowed at that pricing point.

People constantly throw out "ebay is full of scammers" are those who themselves got burned. Common sense applies to ebay as much as anywhere else, and yet I still read about people not using any sense, and getting burned.

There are failsafes in place for lots of the "scams" and problems with ebay, and one is, of course, to not use ebay. Its the other solutions people dont ever think to try.