E-bay and shady people.

[Fragil1ty]

I've recently purchased a Macbook 13" - White, nothing spectacular, only bought it for coding purposes really, just wanted a laptop and I can't afford a Macbook Pro at the moment, but anyway I'll get to the moral of the story.

I saw that the buyout of the Macbook was that of £260.00, so I was like, okay I'll try and get this a little cheaper, and then surprisingly in the last few hours, someone bid with a name that started similar to the sellers and the bids were made up to match the price that he/she wanted and then stopped after it hit the price she wanted.

Basically, it was like this:

I bid £210, I got then outbid and I  put a new bid in of £255 and then I looked at the bidding history and it was just that, I was outbid all the way up until my bid (luckily).

I'm just wondering (if I'm right of course), is this something that a lot of ebayers do they? they'll make newbie accounts, bid on the item to get it at a better value or am I looking into things too much? haha.

Bought it now anyway, hopefully it'll continue to last for a good while longer, long enough for me to save up for a new MBP.

[terran5992]

How many stars did the seller have,

From my knowledge its quite common for sellers to do this

[Fragil1ty]

How many stars did the seller have,

From my knowledge its quite common for sellers to do this

Only 26 stars.

[terran5992]

How many stars did the seller have,

From my knowledge its quite common for sellers to do this

Only 26 stars.

Yeah then its probably the seller trying to run up the price

[Fragil1ty]

I guess it's a good tactic and what not, if you want to get a better sale but still, it seems pretty low to me? like a bit of a sly move?

[terran5992]

I guess it's a good tactic and what not, if you want to get a better sale but still, it seems pretty low to me? like a bit of a sly move?

You wont believe what people do to earn money

[fohat.digs]

That is called "shill bidding" and is a specific violation of ebay rules.

It is sometimes hard to spot and enforce, but will definitely get you black-listed.

Ebay sets up a lot of stuff like "reserve price" that does not make any real sense. A seller should put a start bid at whatever the lowest price he would realistically accept, and let it go.

Sometimes, on a desirable item, there will be a "bidding frenzy" and the price can go higher than it should based on the emotions of a buyer.

I recommend sniping and walking away. If you don't get it, there are other fish in the sea.

[Fragil1ty]

That is called "shill bidding" and is a specific violation of ebay rules.

It is sometimes hard to spot and enforce, but will definitely get you black-listed.

Ebay sets up a lot of stuff like "reserve price" that does not make any real sense. A seller should put a start bid at whatever the lowest price he would realistically accept, and let it go.

Sometimes, on a desirable item, there will be a "bidding frenzy" and the price can go higher than it should based on the emotions of a buyer.

I recommend sniping and walking away. If you don't get it, there are other fish in the sea.

Indeed, I should of just left the item where it was. It did seem extremely suspicious, hence why I posted here! >.<

[Tym]

Yeah, like others have said. Its quite commonplace. Its not hard to do, and really hard to spot, so why not?

I disagree with some things on ebay, i don't see why; if you want a certain amount of money, either start bidding there or have a Buy It Now?

But yeah, if its going over your number, wait for another one to pop up, there will always be one more!

[fohat.digs]

I disagree with some things on ebay,

Ebay is ruled by the principle: "Keep the customer happy and coming back."

That is why buyers pay absolutely no fees, why ebay and Paypal almost always side with buyers, and why fees are lowest on straight auctions with low starting bids. The only thing that is not a disincentive to sellers is access to an open global marketplace, and that trumps everything else.

They want you to list at $0.99 with no reserve so that a buyer might get lucky and snag something cheap. I have gotten plenty of things at that price (being the only bidder) and those sellers must have been bitterly disappointed.

Why should "Buy-It-Now" evaporate when the first legitimate bid comes in? Is it just something to infuriate new sellers, the first time it happens to them?

Unless you really do not know what your item might bring, I would recommend sellers against auctions. Start with a high "Buy-It-Now" price and reduce it 10% every few days until it sells. You will pay top fees to ebay, but get top dollar for your item. Failing that, decide on a realistic "floor" value and start there, with realistic shipping fees.

My recommendation to buyers is to put low-ball snipe bids on everything in sight, and eventually you will hit one.

[microsoft windows]

I don't do business on ebay. That whole site pisses me off.

[fohat.digs]

I don't do business on ebay. That whole site pisses me off.

It is a microcosm of the internet itself.

An amazing, terrifying, frustrating place where great good and great evil reside, and everything in between, with little way to distinguish between them.

The feedback system, while far from perfect, was a stroke of genius, and is quite successful if not abused.

But, like everybody else, cough>google<cough they allow themselves to sail into the dark side of greed and evil.

Still, if my optimum buyer is in Auckland, how do I sell to him otherwise?

[tp4tissue]

I guess it's a good tactic and what not, if you want to get a better sale but still, it seems pretty low to me? like a bit of a sly move?

You wont believe what people do to earn money

they will lie, cheat, even sell out on their mothers.... 

People who seem actively "in the biz" are very dangerous...  They may be good at heart... but the evil is perched right on their shoulders.... sometimes... it takes over...