Big Issue With EBay and Manipulation
 

I was taking a look at some Kobe Bryant rookies and noticed something that is very disturbing. Some are being sold through Probstein and PWCC which would figure would happen but not all. I would bet that this person will not be paying if winning.

Using a 1996 Topps Kobe Bryant SGC 10 for example. Every time I placed a bid I was outbid immediately. The. I took a look at the person who outbid me and here is the kicker. 6000+ bids over the past month, 670+ bid retractions and besides this manipulation of fictitious prices.

The kicker is that PWCC claims they don’t condone this behavior however they were in fact notified of this behavior and are failing to do anything about it. If someone figures out this person before I do let everyone know.

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It's sad how PWCC gets away with this. There's been a few posts in the past detailing them using shill bidding accounts to drive up auction prices. What's even worse IMO is the whole scandal that they had with PSA but that's a whole different can of worms.

Big Issue With EBay and Manipulation
 

I am not trying to knock PWCC at all but using them as example of needing to act more diligent with this. I would think most people do things the right way.

I think this person is acting on his own just like the others doing it but action needs to be taken by the community PWCC, Probstein and eBay.


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Once the basketball manipulators make an EXIT, then we're going to see a big CRASH!

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Yeah, this is more an Ebay issue, then a PWCC issue IMO. How do you have more bid retractions, then you have actual items bid on?

If Ebay just put a stop to this practice, auction houses wouldn't have to police it.

Agreed, Dave. Like most, I have several issues with PWCC but I think this is more of an eBay problem. You'll see the same bidding patterns with some Probstein auctions. Seems it would be very easy for eBay to track a thing like bid retractions, issue warnings, then suspend and finally ban. It could all be done automatically with code.

Why is it ONLY PWCC and Problemstein auctions?


Makes a fellow think eh?

Do any other big name auction houses on ebay have this "problem" as well? Between here and blowout we've seen more than a few threads pop up concerning PWCC and Probstein.

It’s not. These guys in particular were doing on others


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I think because it's generally accepted that those two consignment services get the most $ for their cards. That lures in the worst people in the hobby. Those that trim, shill, bid block, etc.

Are those type of consigners the reasons they get the most $ for their auctions? Maybe. A lot of this could be cleaned up, IMO, with two simple steps from ebay - ban bidders with too many retractions and make public which sales, auction or BIN, are not paid for.

Yup, Ebay stopped pretending they were "just a venue", a long time ago. They could solve this type of manipulation very easily if they really wanted to. They're in charge of the platform. Just a few lines of code, and done.

I wonder why ONLY PWCC and Problemstein get the highest prices

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Answer is simple. Don’t over pay for under valued cards.


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I forget the exact words now but didn't PWCC state they were going to block/ban anyone who had something like 25 bid retractions in 6 months or a year?
I also believe they stated, once they got rolling with this initiative, they were going to lower that bid retraction number further.

Like I've noticed numerous times from PWCC, they tell you/collectors what you want to hear, not what is actually the truth.

As long as they make the high buyer pay for the card (even if its the owner) i am ok with it as that would stop the practice...but they probably dont

you can also bid late enough when bid retractions are not allowed

PWCC Bid retraction
 

A few months ago I cancelled one bid on one item that PWCC had listed. It was the first one I cancelled in about 12 months. PWCC then blocked me from any future bidding with them after they accepted my cancel request.

I have 100% feedback and over 4,000 trans. on eBay.

I have consigned and won several HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS $$$$ with PWCC since 2008.

Immediately I reached out to PWCC CS and explained how wrong I thought their actions were and asked to appeal to Brent-Betsy. They apologized and re-instated me after about 24 hours of being blocked.

Point is, they were unbelievably quick to ban me after ONE BID CANCELLATION.....and I guarantee you (and them) that I am easily one of their better clients.

Sounds like they read this thread. ;)