Sneeky price bumping

Pete.g

So who's done this in the past either by using another account or by getting a friend to bump it up those extra few pounds or indeed to get an auction moving?

Not that I condone this type of behavour of course ::)

Cheers,

Pete.

jordylass

Someone I knew did, she said she didn't even realise it was wrong, she was suspended though.

divadee

i have never done it, and wouldnt condone it but what if you bumped it up and ended up winning ???

alexj2002

Is it wrong? I never knew ::)

5MINSALONE

I really dispise shill bidding, if an item you are selling isnt making what you want then remove it and relist it at the price you want to sell it for. Shill bidding is really decitful if you ask me.

If you really dont know its wrong then I suggest you read ebay guildines on this issue here; http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/seller-shill-bidding.html

Sorry I couldnt bite my tongue lol ::)

svmitche

Uder-half's mum asked him to sell a concert ticket for her and she kept telling him she was going to register to make the first bid cos she had paid £60 and was afraid it was not going to sell (she was saying this practically from the first day of the auction).

In the end uder-half had to practically shout at her to stop her doing it and the item sold in the end, but she didn't think there was anything wrong at all in what she was suggesting. ::)

I think it's weird. People wouldn't enter something to sell at a proper auction house and then go and bid themselves, so why do they think it's acceptable on eBay?

alexj2002

Why pay eBay a listing fee, pull the item and then relist it again and pay another fee?

robnye

i agree. not exactly money saving is it.....

if you list an item, then pull it before the end of the auction - you do not get the listing fee refunded.....

if you then list the item again, you will be charged the listing fee again.....

costing you twice as much........

quoia

I really dispise shill bidding, if an item you are selling isnt making what you want then remove it and relist it at the price you want to sell it for. Shill bidding is really decitful if you ask me.

If you really dont know its wrong then I suggest you read ebay guildines on this issue here; http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/seller-shill-bidding.html

Sorry I couldnt bite my tongue lol  ::)

I've found quite a few auctions where the bidding didn't look right and, with a little bit of digging into previous auctions by the same seller, cross referencing with certain buyers and perhaps even looking at some of their auctions, examining feedback, and especially the time and date when some of these are posted with respect to the end of an auction, I've recognised certain trading patterns and impossible dealing timescales.
Accordingly, I've reported over 25 eBayers (+ other aliases) in the last 2 years.
Every single one of them (more than 60 eBay user ids) have been KICKED OFF eBay as a result.
I've even seen a couple of them come back under totally new names and details.
I kept an eye out for a couple of tell tale signs and found them again, providing evidence for eBay to recognise they were previous crooked sellers and boot them off again !

moneymart_3

I've found quite a few auctions where the bidding didn't look right and, with a little bit of digging into previous auctions by the same seller, cross referencing with certain buyers and perhaps even looking at some of their auctions, examining feedback, and especially the time and date when some of these are posted with respect to the end of an auction, I've recognised certain trading patterns and impossible dealing timescales.
Accordingly, I've reported over 25 eBayers (+ other aliases) in the last 2 years.
Every single one of them (more than 60 eBay user ids) have been KICKED OFF eBay as a result.
I've even seen a couple of them come back under totally new names and details.
I kept an eye out for a couple of tell tale signs and found them again, providing evidence for eBay to recognise they were previous crooked sellers and boot them off again !

What an exciting and fulfilling life you must have  ::)

I remember reading an article in one of wifes magazines about a year or so ago - it was an interview with one of the CEO's of eBay, and one of the comments was along the lines of "if the item you're selling isn't moving very fast, it can be great fun to give it a boost by bidding on it under a different name..."

Personally I don't see anything wrong with it. Nobody is forced to bid on an item - if they think the price has gone too high, then don't bid - simple as that. It's up to the seller to decide how much risk he wants to take by boosting it too far and potentially losing a sale.

By the way, it would be a great money saving technique when selling - list your item with a 99p starting price, and you only pay the lowest listing fee charge. If you then bid £50 from another ID, you have basically got a high starting price without having to pay high start price fees :-)

Also would save you having to pay a reserve price fee. Also, reserve prices can put some people off bidding.

Also, if you were to use two other IDs to shill, then you can create a fake bidding war - ultimately you would make the item look more attractive because it will have had loads of bids on it.

All you would need to do is keep an eye on it when it comes close to closing - if nobody has bid in the last 30 seconds, use "end your listing".

If you only used it against one item, then abandoned it the "self appointed policeman" can't spot the trend, and even if they did, eBay probably wouldn't take any notice.

Personally, I suspect eBay actually like shill bidding, as essentially it bumps the end price (=more final valuation fee = more profits) or generates more listing fees (=more profits). I think they generally turn a blind eye, unless Mr policeman goes running to the teacher ;-)

Jon_C

Moneymart,

While I think that the actions 'self-appointed policeman' seem a bit obsessive, he is actually in the right.

Shill bidding is not in the spirit of Ebay and it's against the rules.