New to ebay, Can you advise please

shellyd_3

I have beekn looking a franke sinks on ebay, and to get and idea of what to pay I checked to see what others had bid, when checking i noticed that a lot of the bids on different sink but same sellers had the same bidding names.
I would like to know if it is possible for these people to bid for their own items to bump up the price, I was looking to get a one cheap, but if this happens it looks like I could be wasting my time.

thanks for any advice

Michelle

P.s I have also been reading about people having accounts stolen, I am a bit worried because i get a lot of emails from Ebay, and i have clicked on the links who can I tell if the emails are from ebay. I won't click on these anymore but would like to know if I am in danger. I have just changed my password should I do anything else.

thanks again

michelle

pulliptears

Ok, firstly ebay will never ask you for your username or password in any email. If you are unsure where the email come from check your messages within "my ebay"

Sellers bidding up their own items is sadly a common practice, its known as "Shill bidding". Basically your seller has 2 id's and bumps up the price of his own auction. If you are worried about it, have a look at the bid history of the item before you bid, check out the bidders feedback. have they recieved a positive feedback from the seller before?? If so, a quick "search by bidder" usually reveals a shill.
Jane
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