Need ebay advice..Please help!

[Esposito08]

hi all, i'm a above average ebayer, feedback is in the 1600's now (been buying for about 3 1/2 years), and recently i've been trying to buy up older auto'ed vintage sets, and similar stuff. after bidding on an entire set online, all cards in the set were auctioned off seperately, i noticed something a bit strange. i knew i would be out that evening when all items would end, so i set a high max bid on multiple items, thinking i was in the clear to win because the cards were worth less than i bid. anywho, i get home, happy to see i won basically everything, but there was something strange about this situation. it seemed a chunk of my cards were bid on by a guy with 0% feedback, and the person who bid, raised the prices on the cards little by little until it was just below my max bids...does this seem like the seller made an account just to increase his prices, knowing i would likely pay anyways? what should i do? i did not contact him yet, and i now do not intend on paying regardless. i mean i know i put the bids in a higher numbers, but its just too obvious that there was foul play at hand. any advice? if i have to, i'll close my ebay account becuase of something like this, but i'm not getting ****ed over lol. lmk what you think! and happy new year all!

[centrehice]

It's either a Noob on eBay, or the buyer has a Shill, which is somebody else who purposely runs up the bids for him.

It's easier to prove a shill, when they either Retract Bids, or have more Feedback. There is a chance that the Noob with 0 Feedback could simply be interested in the cards.

I'd have to see the bidding behaviour before I could come to a conclusion. Did you pay too much for the cards? Were the bids countered by the 0% person immediately after you bid? These are indicators of Shilling.

[Fred Bear]

hi all, i'm a above average ebayer, feedback is in the 1600's now (been buying for about 3 1/2 years), and recently i've been trying to buy up older auto'ed vintage sets, and similar stuff. after bidding on an entire set online, all cards in the set were auctioned off seperately, i noticed something a bit strange. i knew i would be out that evening when all items would end, so i set a high max bid on multiple items, thinking i was in the clear to win because the cards were worth less than i bid. anywho, i get home, happy to see i won basically everything, but there was something strange about this situation. it seemed a chunk of my cards were bid on by a guy with 0% feedback, and the person who bid, raised the prices on the cards little by little until it was just below my max bids...does this seem like the seller made an account just to increase his prices, knowing i would likely pay anyways? what should i do? i did not contact him yet, and i now do not intend on paying regardless. i mean i know i put the bids in a higher numbers, but its just too obvious that there was foul play at hand. any advice? if i have to, i'll close my ebay account becuase of something like this, but i'm not getting ****ed over lol. lmk what you think! and happy new year all!

If the 'other' bidder didn't 'retract' his bids, but rather incrementally bid you up, you won't really be able to prove a shill. If the bids were retracted and then rebid to max you out, it is clearly shilling and you should report it to ebay. You may want to report it anyone and have them look into the specifics of the 0-feedback acct. Ebay's rules on starting accounts is too lax and too many people have/start multiple accts. for bidding on different items.

You need to communicate both with the seller and ebay, though. If you choose to 'not pay regardless', in my opinion, you are no better than the multitude of non-paying bidders already littering ebay - irregardless of your feedback rating. You put high bids on each item and may have hit a spot of bad luck which may be nobody's fault but your own (this is why I, and many others, use sniping programs). I mean, would you have the same questions if you were bid up by 5-6 (I don't know how many items we're talking about) different bidders across the different items? Until you talk to ebay and the seller, you won't know if your assumptions have any foundation.

Post some links to the auctions. It may be much clearer being able to see the bid histories.

[PattyLafontaine]

I'm glad it wasn't me as I did that when I first started on ebay. Chances are it was a noob who didn't realize about the maximums.

[30ranfordfan]

I always have a hard time pointing the finger at people who might be shilling, becuase if you follow my bid patterns I'm sure someone might think I was helping a seller out by doing the same thing.

Often when I see a card available for sale, I do bid it up in small incriments - guessing what the max bid could be. I don't bid anything I wouldn't be comfortable paying for the card.... I would never retract them (to be that is the one sure sign of a shill bidder - the outbid you, retract, then bid just under you) but here's an example:

Start bid is 99 cents
Current bid is $5.24

I'm thinking that I would be willing to pay up to $30 for the card.

Very often I would bid $5.99, $7.99, $9.99, $12.49, $14.99, $16.99, $19.99 - then see that the max bid is now at $20.

I'd stop bidding at that point, and then go back and look at the auction later. Maybe still sitting at $20 - but I've since changed my mind about my willingness to go any higher, and I leave it alone.

[Jaso1199]

If the 'other' bidder didn't 'retract' his bids, but rather incrementally bid you up, you won't really be able to prove a shill. If the bids were retracted and then rebid to max you out, it is clearly shilling and you should report it to ebay. You may want to report it anyone and have them look into the specifics of the 0-feedback acct. Ebay's rules on starting accounts is too lax and too many people have/start multiple accts. for bidding on different items.

You need to communicate both with the seller and ebay, though. If you choose to 'not pay regardless', in my opinion, you are no better than the multitude of non-paying bidders already littering ebay - irregardless of your feedback rating. You put high bids on each item and may have hit a spot of bad luck which may be nobody's fault but your own (this is why I, and many others, use sniping programs). I mean, would you have the same questions if you were bid up by 5-6 (I don't know how many items we're talking about) different bidders across the different items? Until you talk to ebay and the seller, you won't know if your assumptions have any foundation.

Post some links to the auctions. It may be much clearer being able to see the bid histories.

I find it funny how you are all over the guy who doesnt want to pay after he was the victim of shill bidding, yet you use sniping programs to win auction. IMO, there isnt a difference between the two, you are just as much in the wrong as the shill bidder.

With that being said, I do agree you should try and work it out with the seller, and if that doesnt work try and contact Ebay.

[gomaz]

I find it funny how you are all over the guy who doesnt want to pay after he was the victim of shill bidding, yet you use sniping programs to win auction. IMO, there isnt a difference between the two, you are just as much in the wrong as the shill bidder.

Are you serious? That is the most ridiculous statement I have read in a long time.

[Jaso1199]

Are you serious? That is the most ridiculous statement I have read in a long time.

Why is that ridiculous? Both are using unfair systems on auctions.

[30ranfordfan]

How is sniping unfair? Instead of manually placing your max bid yourself, you use 3rd party software to do it, close to the end of the auction. If someone else bids higher than you..... you still lose.

[Fred Bear]

I find it funny how you are all over the guy who doesnt want to pay after he was the victim of shill bidding, yet you use sniping programs to win auction. IMO, there isnt a difference between the two, you are just as much in the wrong as the shill bidder.

With that being said, I do agree you should try and work it out with the seller, and if that doesnt work try and contact Ebay.

I, obviously, don't think sniping is unfair as I did (and still do) the same thing without third party software when necessary. I just bid at the last second. I can still be outbid (happens often), but the number of times I've been shilled has gone way, way down.

I've also paid for every auction I've won, too, regardless of whether or not I was shilled. I've mentioned it to more than one seller, but if the price doesn't exceed what I'm willing to pay - the card is usually worth more to me than the extra $5 the seller gets. [I'm by no means saying shilling is acceptable behavior, rather I've never fallen victim to a shill bid that costs me big money.]

I try not to make judgements based on hearsay and rumor, especially on the internet. With the information the OP provided, I don't think you can say that the OP was undoubtedly shilled. If he wasn't and he doesn't pay, I won't condone that type of behavior. He placed the bids and he won the auctions. He needs to pay his bills. If he confronts the seller and contacts ebay and it can be determined that he was the victim of shill bidding, different story altogether. But, that's just my opinion.