E-bay experience

[jim_hanna]

I was recently bidding on an e-bay item, was the highest bidder at the time, and decided to increase the maximum I was prepared to pay.

When I had upped my limit I was surprised to see that while I was still high bidder and the price remained the same, the number of bids made which is visible on screen to all buyers, had been increased by one.

The e-bay policy of increasing the number of bids made, visible on screen to all buyers, when the top bidder increases their maximum limit is an invitation for the seller to shill bid.
It seems logical that a seller would keep an eye on his listings. When the bids go up and the price stays the same the seller knows that the top bidder is willing to pay more and therefore it is safe for the seller to bid one further increment higher to push up the price.

Just happened to me.

I was bidding on some chisels - decided after some thought that they were worth more to me than I'd previously bid and upped my maximum limit. Shortly after a new buyer with no previous purchases visible (all the other bidders had the number of their previous purchases against their username) upped the price by one increment.

In the end it didn’t matter since other bidders subsequently drove the price higher but I still won.

However I see no reason why the e-bay software records an increase in the maximum limit to be bid as an actual bid and then displays this increase in bids to other buyers.

The e-bay customer service interface seems designed to deter communication, all the forms limit the number of characters and it’s impossible to write as I’m doing here.


Jim

!--edited to try to explain things slightly better

 

[Graham Orm]

The moral here surely is to decide on your maximum bid before you bid initially? From what you say it does leave the opportunity there for someone to up the bidding. To be honest Jim I doubt if many would sit and watch and analyse the bidding as you describe.

 

[scosarg]

eBay are pretty good at stopping shill bidding by tracking IP addresses for sellers and bidders. Best bet is bid what you think something is worth and wave goodbye if it goes for more..., usually another will crop up

Cheers

 

[Graham Orm]

You can always wait until the last few seconds for placing your high bid.

 

[Zeddedhed]

I use Gixen to snipe bid and never bother watching the auctions.
It's less 'emotional' that way. Decide what you want to pay, let Gixen bid for you at the last minute and then if you win hoorah, if not hey ho.

 

[RogerP]

Sniping seems to have become the way these days. Many folk now either bid themselves in the closing seconds or use a 3rd party snipe site to do it for them. I can see the reason but it's taken some of the fun out of auctions.

 

[Rhossydd]

eBay are pretty good at stopping shill bidding by tracking IP addresses for sellers and bidders.

That might have worked in the last century, but anyone with a tiny bit of knowledge would bid using a different system, eg a mobile phone and avoid detection.

As everyone says, just working out what something is worth to you and just bidding that is the best approach. Then just don't watch the auction at all.

 

[BearTricks]

There's a seller on there who moves a large volume of Persian rugs. I've been after some large rugs for ages and it took me a while to realise that they're pushing the price of their own listing up.

All of their rugs go for at least a hundred pounds, but there have been a few occasions where I've been the only bidder at around 30 quid only to have someone come in and hike the price up.

I guess if you're shifting such large volumes and your morals are in the wrong place, the relatively small amount you pay in PayPal and eBay fees when no one bites is worth it for all the times you force a sale up over the odds.

Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk

 

[Lonsdale73]

To be honest Jim I doubt if many would sit and watch and analyse the bidding as you describe.

You'd be surprised.

Case in point: who the hell bids £24 for a £20 voucher? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Amazon-20-Gif ... Swf-VWZtyu