Ebay bids

KeithT

KeithT

Hillwalking, chickens and - err - garden railways.
Country flag
Why is it that increasingly when I use ebay I get the feeling that there is something untoward happening?
I have just secured a non-rail item.
At 20secs to go there were no bids, I put in my max bid and when I checked I found that there were 3 bids but only 2 were listed, mine at £19 and one immediately before it for £18 and described as "private listing - bidders' identities protected".
This smacks of dodgy practice, it certainly lacks "transparency. :timeout:
 
YES THT RITE ,,,same as me before,,crafty really..
 
The ones that annoy me are the ones that disappear. If you have them on your watching list they are marked as ended even though they still have days to go.
 
KeithT said:
Why is it that increasingly when I use ebay I get the feeling that there is something untoward happening?
I have just secured a non-rail item.
At 20secs to go there were no bids, I put in my max bid and when I checked I found that there were 3 bids but only 2 were listed, mine at £19 and one immediately before it for £18 and described as "private listing - bidders' identities protected".
This smacks of dodgy practice, it certainly lacks "transparency. :timeout:
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could it just possably be, that 2 other crafty last minute ebay bidders, were playing the "ill be a crafty bugger, and stick a last minute bid in"game?;)
 
mike said:
KeithT said:
Why is it that increasingly when I use ebay I get the feeling that there is something untoward happening?
I have just secured a non-rail item.
At 20secs to go there were no bids, I put in my max bid and when I checked I found that there were 3 bids but only 2 were listed, mine at £19 and one immediately before it for £18 and described as "private listing - bidders' identities protected".
This smacks of dodgy practice, it certainly lacks "transparency. :timeout:
Click to expand...

could it just possably be, that 2 other crafty last minute ebay bidders, were playing the "ill be a crafty bugger, and stick a last minute bid in"game?;)
Click to expand...
yes tht rite mike coz i knew example...2 0r 3 peoples knw each other and they try put the bidder price up and make them bids more...crafty...spriteful..
 
The "private listing" thing is quite normal. It was introduced quite a while back - I think it's something the seller chooses for their listing?

Perhaps the number of bids clocked versus the number listed may be caused by either multiple bids of the same amount (first one taken), or ebay automatically incrementally bid for one of the bidders?
 
mike said:
KeithT said:
Why is it that increasingly when I use ebay I get the feeling that there is something untoward happening?
I have just secured a non-rail item.
At 20secs to go there were no bids, I put in my max bid and when I checked I found that there were 3 bids but only 2 were listed, mine at £19 and one immediately before it for £18 and described as "private listing - bidders' identities protected".
This smacks of dodgy practice, it certainly lacks "transparency. :timeout:
Click to expand...

could it just possably be, that 2 other crafty last minute ebay bidders, were playing the "ill be a crafty bugger, and stick a last minute bid in"game?;)
Click to expand...
Not quite Mike. The list only showed 2 bids even though there were 3 claimed.
What I would like to know is how do I get this 'clandestine' status?
One for all and all for one I say.
 
steven large said:
yes tht rite mike coz i knew example...2 0r 3 peoples knw each other and they try put the bidder price up and make them bids more...crafty...spriteful..
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That's called shill bidding and is frowned upon. I think if proven then action can be taken.
I don't think KeithT's example above is necessarily evidence of shill bidding.
 
Nick I was aware of that for the seller but this was a bidder. It seems to me it would be easy for the seller to put in his own clandestine bid using a last minute Snipe and if he listed on a "free" day he would lose nothing and have the chance to relist the item in the hope of getting a better price.
 
Stainzmeister said:
There are also sniping sites which will automaticllay bid with seconds ago....you don't have to be at your computer to use them and you set the limit.
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Paul Now you mention it I have had several disappear into the wide blue yonder recently all of which were below what might have been expected as they approached the end time.
 
ntpntpntp said:
steven large said:
yes tht rite mike coz i knew example...2 0r 3 peoples knw each other and they try put the bidder price up and make them bids more...crafty...spriteful..
Click to expand...
That's called shill bidding and is frowned upon. I think if proven then action can be taken.
I don't think KeithT's example above is necessarily evidence of shill bidding.
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Several years ago I had a very clear case of Shill bidding at the time when not only was it possible to see the bidders name but also to see where they claimed to be from.
In that case the seller upped the ante using another ID but the clown put his location as a bidder exactly as it was on his sales particulars.
He almost wet himself online when I challenged him "Oh I didn't realise you could find my location"!!!
He was barred by ebay but no doubt just chose another ID and carried on.
 
KeithT said:
Nick I was aware of that for the seller but this was a bidder. It seems to me it would be easy for the seller to put in his own clandestine bid using a last minute Snipe and if he listed on a "free" day he would lose nothing and have the chance to relist the item in the hope of getting a better price.
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He would still have to pay as the free listing only covers the listing fee. He would be charges on a % of the sale price.
 
dutchelm said:
KeithT said:
Nick I was aware of that for the seller but this was a bidder. It seems to me it would be easy for the seller to put in his own clandestine bid using a last minute Snipe and if he listed on a "free" day he would lose nothing and have the chance to relist the item in the hope of getting a better price.
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He would still have to pay as the free listing only covers the listing fee. He would be charges on a % of the sale price.
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That's true I had missed that.
I still feel as if I have been manipulated though! (Oo-er missus!) :-
 
I wonder if some of the "disappearing" listings are cases where the seller gets cold feet (especially on an expensive item with a low start price), fears he might not get the sort of money he expected, and pulls the item - which I think he is entitled to do under the rules, even if it's not really ethical auction practice.
Personally I'd rather that sellers set a start price of the minimum they are genuinely willing to accept - the ones that REALLY bug me are the "low start, but high reserve" ones - if you're going to set a reserve price, why not just use that as the start price?

Jon.
 
Or your bid was trumped at the last moment and your climing bid beat that - 3 bids two bidders. (your lower bid will not show.
As for cancelling an auction - yes, the seller can do that at anytime - anoying.
 
Tony said:
Nothing funny going on it means 2 bids were the same amount.
Tony
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Tony I expect that you are correct but the buyer has no way of being satisfied that that is the case.
It would be more transparent and therefore understandable if it were shown as a double bid.
 
Zerogee said:
I wonder if some of the "disappearing" listings are cases where the seller gets cold feet (especially on an expensive item with a low start price), fears he might not get the sort of money he expected, and pulls the item - which I think he is entitled to do under the rules, even if it's not really ethical auction practice.
Personally I'd rather that sellers set a start price of the minimum they are genuinely willing to accept - the ones that REALLY bug me are the "low start, but high reserve" ones - if you're going to set a reserve price, why not just use that as the start price?

Jon.
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Its often the case where a seller recieves an offer he cant refuse he ends the listing saving on the fees. We Dont ever do that with stuff we are selling but ive bought a lot of stuff doing that mainly cars or high price items.
but every week we get people asking us to

While we are having a moan, well not exatly a moan but a queary. We start everything at 99p no reserve (always have always will) but you always get some bright spark biding 99p or 1.99 for an item that clearly will sell for a lot more, why ? whats the point they are just wasting their time, we normally list 10 items a day and within 1 day 8 will have bids of 99p ?????????????

Nowt strange as folk

Tony
 
Tony if you start at 99p and I put a bid of $100 it will still show as 99p bid until someone bids more? but I know what you mean as I think it's just board retards most of the time!!
 
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