What would you do? Opinions wanted

rainier2004 · #1 11-16-2017, 08:08 AM

Id contact the seller and renegotiate for what the price should have been. If not, I wouldn't pay and report the auction. If he does send the card at the new price I would still report the seller. The last thing I would do is just pay the price, you were screwed.

frankbmd · #2 11-16-2017, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rainier2004

Id contact the seller and renegotiate for what the price should have been. If not, I wouldn't pay and report the auction. If he does send the card at the new price I would still report the seller. The last thing I would do is just pay the price, you were screwed.

Let us know who he is and then tell the seller you have shared your experience with 10,000 of your best friends, all of whom collect cards. If this doesn�t help in resolving your issue, just move on and we will all join you.

Jobu · #3 11-16-2017, 08:41 AM

I am curious how he manages never to win the items with 0 retractions. I know he can win and simply not pay, but it doesn't sound like that happens here. Jantz, if you look at the sold listings does the same card show up a lot?

Bliggity · #4 11-16-2017, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jobu

I am curious how he manages never to win the items with 0 retractions. I know he can win and simply not pay, but it doesn't sound like that happens here. Jantz, if you look at the sold listings does the same card show up a lot?

He can do this by bidding in the minimum possible increments and seeing where the next auto-bid from the high bidder comes in. If the current bid is $500, the shiller bids $505, and the auto-bid moves to $510, then the shiller knows he can take it another step. But, if the current bid is $500, the shiller bids $505, and the auto-bid moves to $507, the shiller will know he has almost reached the winner's top bid, and will not bump the bid again.

It seems obvious what is going on here. I would out the seller here so that we can all avoid him. And just another example of why I only snipe-bid on eBay.

markf31 · #5 11-16-2017, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bliggity

He can do this by bidding in the minimum possible increments and seeing where the next auto-bid from the high bidder comes in. If the current bid is $500, the shiller bids $505, and the auto-bid moves to $510, then the shiller knows he can take it another step. But, if the current bid is $500, the shiller bids $505, and the auto-bid moves to $507, the shiller will know he has almost reached the winner's top bid, and will not bump the bid again.

It seems obvious what is going on here. I would out the seller here so that we can all avoid him. And just another example of why I only snipe-bid on eBay.

Not even one win though in 195 items that were bid on, makes this even more strange and odd to me. I understand the scenario you laid out but on 195 items bid on, the odds of never once winning by accident seems incredibly small.

Take your example of a auction currently at $500. Ebay bidding increments state (I think) that the next bid has to be at least $10 over, so if they try to shill bid at $510, it is entirely possible the previous high bid was only $505 and now the shill becomes the high bidder. But that never once happened on 195 items and 833 bids.

I do believe something is up here, but I dont think its as straight forward as blind shill bidding.

cardinalcollector · #6 11-16-2017, 11:24 AM

Jantz, look up the seller and shillers IDs on Ebay and see where their locations are. If they are both from the same location, that would be very telling.

botn · #7 11-16-2017, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cardinalcollector

Jantz, look up the seller and shillers IDs on Ebay and see where their locations are. If they are both from the same location, that would be very telling.

That cannot be done any longer since ebay has blocked buyer ids to everyone but the seller of the particular item. Has only succeeded in allowing stuff like this to go on regularly on ebay.

bnorth · #8 11-16-2017, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markf31

Not even one win though in 195 items that were bid on, makes this even more strange and odd to me. I understand the scenario you laid out but on 195 items bid on, the odds of never once winning by accident seems incredibly small.

Take your example of a auction currently at $500. Ebay bidding increments state (I think) that the next bid has to be at least $10 over, so if they try to shill bid at $510, it is entirely possible the previous high bid was only $505 and now the shill becomes the high bidder. But that never once happened on 195 items and 833 bids.

I do believe something is up here, but I dont think its as straight forward as blind shill bidding.

I hate to add to Dan's description on how to shill bid. The part you are not understanding is even if the shill bidder does accidentally become the top bidder in the last day. They still have all the snipe bidders to fall back on. Thats right snipe bidding helps shillers sometimes. Even if knowing how to shill up to a persons top bid and the snipers don't save one of your shilling accounts from winning, they can just cancel the transaction with themselves/friend.

Michael B · #9 11-16-2017, 02:08 PM

I would pay for the item and move on. You readily admitted that the bid you placed was the maximum amount you were willing to pay. The salient point is that "my winning bid was exactly the amount I was willing to pay, right down to the exact cent.". You said that you could have had it at a lower price if not for the shenanigans. That is just a guess based on certain dynamics of an auction. There is no way of knowing if there may have been someone else watching who was going to bid late and saw it rise to a point above what they were willing to pay and did not enter a bid. I have no doubt that the seller is playing games, either using several accounts or in collusion with someone else. The people that go to that much trouble have learned to game the system. You can chose to not bid with this person again, bid using a snipe program or wait until the last 10 seconds or so which is what I usually do.

Jantz · #10 11-16-2017, 03:03 PM

Just a quick update.

I have spoken with Ebay and the underbidder has already been warned once recently for this type of bidding. The Ebay employee also informed me that an investigation will be issued against the underbidder & the seller.

At the moment, I'm to take this matter up with the seller. So I'm waiting for a reply from the seller.

Regardless, I know what is going on in this seller's auctions. If you want the seller's Ebay username, PM me.

rainier2004 · #11 11-16-2017, 03:15 PM

I guess I should stop being surprised with people that are ok with being shilled. Just b/c someone was willing to pay their top bid doesn't mean it its ok when the integrity of then auction was tampered with.

pbspelly · #12 11-16-2017, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bliggity

He can do this by bidding in the minimum possible increments and seeing where the next auto-bid from the high bidder comes in. If the current bid is $500, the shiller bids $505, and the auto-bid moves to $510, then the shiller knows he can take it another step. But, if the current bid is $500, the shiller bids $505, and the auto-bid moves to $507, the shiller will know he has almost reached the winner's top bid, and will not bump the bid again.

It seems obvious what is going on here. I would out the seller here so that we can all avoid him. And just another example of why I only snipe-bid on eBay.

Is this right? That the autobid increment is affected by another person's max bid? I thought the autobid increment was simply determined by the price and previous bidding

clydepepper · #13 11-16-2017, 02:49 PM

Please share the seller's Ebay ID - so we can avoid your plight.

Thanks

.

Jantz · #14 11-16-2017, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clydepepper

Please share the seller's Ebay ID - so we can avoid your plight.

Thanks

.

PM sent

ls7plus · #15 11-17-2017, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bliggity

He can do this by bidding in the minimum possible increments and seeing where the next auto-bid from the high bidder comes in. If the current bid is $500, the shiller bids $505, and the auto-bid moves to $510, then the shiller knows he can take it another step. But, if the current bid is $500, the shiller bids $505, and the auto-bid moves to $507, the shiller will know he has almost reached the winner's top bid, and will not bump the bid again.

It seems obvious what is going on here. I would out the seller here so that we can all avoid him. And just another example of why I only snipe-bid on eBay.

Ah, very interesting! Thanks Dan, for the info. Should have figured it out myself.

As to the poster's question, my actions would most likely be dictated by how tough the item is to obtain, whether I was not greatly dissatisfied with the price I paid and set as my maximum, etc. One thing I definitely would not do is bid with that seller again!

May your collecting bring you the joy it is supposed to,

Larry

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Advice/Opinions wanted	mid50sbaseball	Postwar Baseball Cards Forum (Pre-1980)	4	04-07-2016 09:25 PM
Another Mantle Opinions Wanted : )	CollectiblesNJ	Autograph Forum- Primarily Sports	15	10-06-2013 12:23 PM
Opinions Wanted Please on a Mathewson	mschwade	Autograph Forum- Primarily Sports	5	08-01-2013 09:04 PM
Opinions Wanted	MK	Net54baseball Sports (Primarily) Vintage Memorabilia Forum incl. Game Used	30	07-14-2013 08:13 PM
Opinions wanted re this signature	Exhibitman	Autograph Forum- Primarily Sports	6	11-19-2012 12:27 PM