Ebay Shill bidding at work? You decide.

[Deadman]

I've been on ebay for over 13 years now and I don't like the ebay culture over there at all anymore, but sometimes you gotta bid there to get what you want. So I bid on a copy of Guardian Heroes with no manual for the Saturn at $31.00. My max was $46. With only a few minutes to go, the auction got bid up to $35, then $40, then $45, then $50, so I lost it. But wait! Within a minute of the $50 bid, the bid was retracted (which I thought was illegal within the last hours of an auction) - making me the high bidder at the max bid of $46.

So, I won the auction (which I'm happy about) but I'm pretty sure I just got $15 jacked on me by some guy and his friend. here's the auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180494566651&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSA:US:1123

Should I request ebay to look at this auction and the other bidder's "sketchy" bidding history (which includes 6 retracted bids in the last few months - a history of shill bidding for friends?) or should I just suck it up and pay it.

I should say the reason I bid on this is that I have a pristine manual that will complete this sought after game for me. So, even at $46 it's not bad for a complete Guardian Heroes.

[UnpluggedClone]

Google 4 gaga

[megasdkirby]

I definitely sense shill bidding.

This is why I only snipe from now on.

[Deadman]

Dude that's not a friend that's the seller doing that he max bids then HE retracts that users bid which is himself. It doesn't matter what time the auction is, I the seller can retract anyone's bid i want doesn't matter how much time is left. The Seller made up an ebay account max bidded 50 to get your max out then logged back on to the seller account and retracted his own bid. No way i pay for that and if you get forced into it I would leave negative feedback.

Oh, don't you worry - negative feedback is going to be left no matter what happens. I've reported both the buyer and seller to ebay and I'll see how they handle it. My guess is they won't do a damn thing. What sucks is that I really want the game and honestly, it's not a terrible price for one of the tougher games to get cheap for the saturn.

[PC-ENGINE HELL]

I definitely sense shill bidding.

This is why I only snipe from now on.

Yea, really honestly its the best way. Just wait till the last few seconds or so and lay your max bid down. Ebay now uses a active countdown on the auction page at the last hour of the auction, so use that to your advantage when placing a bid. If you win, great, if not, you wouldn't have won anyway because someone was willing to pay more at the end of it. This way you can at least avoid some of the shill bidding and bid wars. Check the bid history on stuff before you lay your bid too. I wont bid on anything that has more then two bidders with below 10 feedback, and def not if there are multiple zero feedback bidders.

[Deadman]

Yea, really honestly its the best way. Just wait till the last few seconds or so and lay your max bid down. Ebay now uses a active countdown on the auction page at the last hour of the auction, so use that to your advantage when placing a bid. If you win, great, if not, you wouldn't have won anyway because someone was willing to pay more at the end of it. This way you can at least avoid some of the shill bidding and bid wars. Check the bid history on stuff before you lay your bid too. I wont bid on anything that has more then two bidders with below 10 feedback, and def not if there are multiple zero feedback bidders.

Typically, that's what I do, but I knew that it was ending around noon and I had a lunch appointment so I wasn't going to have access when it ended. Ah well, whatever. It's a game I've always wanted and at that price, it's still a good deal.

[Mayhem]

Does seem rather fishy there. And yes, I only snipe now in part because of shill bidding...

[Ed Oscuro]

Been sniping ever since I was part of eBay just because of shit like this. Every time I don't, I lose the auction, though oftentimes I forget about an auction and it goes for pennies anyway. Funny how that works.

[Mayhem]

Another possible sign I've had over the years is getting a second chance offer within 24 hours of the auction ending. I usually tend to ignore those because it has quite often been a shill of sorts...

[ChronoTriggaFoo]

eBay should change it so that if you retract your bid, it retracts ALL your bids. That way, if you bid again for the purpose of shilling, it will be VERY obvious.

[Deadman]

eBay should change it so that if you retract your bid, it retracts ALL your bids. That way, if you bid again for the purpose of shilling, it will be VERY obvious.

Well, that's the way that it used to be! I don't know why it isn't that way anymore? I contacted ebay and they said they are looking into the questionable nature of the auction and may either warn them, boot them, suspend them - but they can't tell me what they decide to do. Oh well, I hope they're booted, but they'll just get another shill account anyway.

[gum_drops]

Oh, don't you worry - negative feedback is going to be left no matter what happens.

There is no way to tell for sure that the bidder is shill bidding for the seller, so I dont see how a negative is warranted just on speculation. The bidder may have become annoyed that his bids where not high enough to hit your max and decided to run it up on you as much as possible. I think thats more likely. I have seen that happen multiple times. Also, the bidder canceled the bid not the seller.

Did you email the seller and say you were concerned about the situation and request the bidders user id. At least that way you could look at his actual bid history to see if there is a link or not.

[savageone]

Seems way more likely the bidder got PO'd and decided to max you out. That isn't uncommon or anything. All the sellers items had BINs, none of his other auctions are like this, and that bidder was the first bidder (meaning he also removed the BIN only a few hours after the auction went up).

It's a pretty petty thing to do, I'd say you should request the seller cancel the transaction if you are not satisfied paying that price.

[Deadman]

There is no way to tell for sure that the bidder is shill bidding for the seller, so I dont see how a negative is warranted just on speculation. The bidder may have become annoyed that his bids where not high enough to hit your max and decided to run it up on you as much as possible. I think thats more likely. I have seen that happen multiple times. Also, the bidder canceled the bid not the seller.

Did you email the seller and say you were concerned about the situation and request the bidders user id. At least that way you could look at his actual bid history to see if there is a link or not.

Yes, I looked at the bidders history and he has a history of cancelling and retracting bids, but typically for different sellers. This is the only time he's bid on one of this seller's auctions in at least 30 days. So, here's the final verdict on what I've done:

1. Reported the whole fishy thing to ebay, what they do is now out of my hands.
2. Noted my reservations to the seller (in a non-threatening way) concerning bidding improprieties.
3. Paid for the item, because when it's all said and done, I want this game and getting it for $50 is still a decent deal, but yes it should have been less.
4. Lastly - learned a valuable lesson! No more bidding early - sniping only and I will retract any bid if I feel like it!

[mobiusclimber]

There are a number of programs you can download that will snipe for you at the last few seconds (you set it to what time you want it to bid, I have mine set to 5 seconds prior to ending). That way you don't have to sit at your computer staring at an auction page waiting for the last few minutes.

[megasdkirby]

There are a number of programs you can download that will snipe for you at the last few seconds (you set it to what time you want it to bid, I have mine set to 5 seconds prior to ending). That way you don't have to sit at your computer staring at an auction page waiting for the last few minutes.

What's the program, mobius? I would love to have something like that for when I can't actually bid on an item (say, because I'm at work).

Is it free?

[Cornelius]

I use goofbay.com to snipe on the rare occasions I try to buy on eBay. It isn't perfect, but it works for me. It isn't a download, though, but a website. And it is free.

[Ed Oscuro]

What's the program, mobius? I would love to have something like that for when I can't actually bid on an item (say, because I'm at work).

Is it free?
It's really hard to look around Google, I take it?

jbidwatcher was what I always used.

[megasdkirby]

It's really hard to look around Google, I take it?

jbidwatcher was what I always used.

I ask because those that I've tried to search online have either trojans, malawares, spyware and such. Using a program that others have used successfully helps me weed out the bad ones from the good ones...or those I don't have to pay money for the service. So yeah, it's kinda hard to look around Google. LOL

Thanks for the program, though. Going to download it now. :)

[darkslime]

I use auctionsniper

[nhm]

I use www.esnipe.com. There's nothing to download. You can have bid "groups." I.E., you want a copy of Chrono Trigger, so you put in 5 auctions that you would bid on. As soon as you win one, it automatically cancels your bids for the other auctions. You can set up what time you want to bid on items. Mine is set at 6 seconds before auction end.

There is no reason to not use a sniping service, in my eyes.

[mobiusclimber]

It's really hard to look around Google, I take it?

jbidwatcher was what I always used.

This is the one I've always used as well, but I keep thinking about switching. I need one that will display everything I'm watching, not just the first page. It also has some weird little bugs that annoy me. It works tho.