Sneeky price bumping

kaaloo

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.

Here Here Jon_C,

Honesty is the best policy - shill bidding sounds attractive but is just damn unethical!

The world would be a better place if we were all honest!
I will get off my soap box now!!!

moneymart_3

So what is the difference between the following two scenarios :

1. List an item for £1, but set a £50 reserve

2. List an item for £1, and shill bid £50

?

moneymart_3

Answer :

1. Costs £2.50 listing fee.

2. Costs 15 pence listing fee.

Now perhaps you see why eBay don't like shill bidding?!

Are you really naive enough to think eBay ban shill bidding on ethical grounds?

Even if nobody else bids on the item, and you end up buying it yourself (which you wouldn't, because you'd end the listing just before it finished if there were no other bids), you would still only pay £2.22 final valuation fee, which together with the 15p listing fee, is still only £2.37 in total as opposed to £2.50 to list with a reserve.

kaaloo

Answer :

1. Costs £2.50 listing fee.

2. Costs 15 pence listing fee.

Now perhaps you see why eBay don't like shill bidding?!

Are you really naive enough to think eBay ban shill bidding on ethical grounds?

Even if nobody else bids on the item, and you end up buying it yourself (which you wouldn't, because you'd end the listing just before it finished if there were no other bids), you would still only pay £2.22 final valuation fee, which together with the 15p listing fee, is still only £2.37 in total as opposed to £2.50 to list with a reserve.

Blimey! I may be the worm that turns!

Lolzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!

reen_3

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'm a little confused, though, as to the way you went about it. i have a number of sellers saved under the 'favourites' category. i bid quite often on items sold by a small handful of people. sometimes i win. other times i don't. now, if you were to look at some of these people's records, you might see a pattern. you might even take the next step and report us both to ebay.

and the vigilante spirit lives on...

personally, i see nothing wrong with so-called shill bidding. no one loses. ebay gets higher final price fees and the seller sells at a higher price. the bidders pay no more than the amount that the item is worth to them. it does not matter who placed the lower bids.

the amount of hypocrisy on this board is ridiculous. no one has a problem with sending away for free samples under more than one name or using someone else's code to get a discount at tesco.com. ebay is a marketplace. buy or don't buy. it's up to you.

Doublespresso

the amount of hypocrisy on this board is ridiculous. no one has a problem with sending away for free samples under more than one name or using someone else's code to get a discount at tesco.com. ebay is a marketplace. buy or don't buy. it's up to you.

ha ha, I must admit you have a very valid point there!

XYZed

I don't get this....

Surely, if you want to sell an item for a minimum 50 quid, why not list it with a start price of 50 quid? It only costs £1.50 to list it, buyers know what you expect to sell it for, and its fair and above board......

Much easier than secret reserve prices that buyers have to guess at, with high fees to boot, and it seems to work very well. I have had no problems with listing in this fashion.....

Just my tuppence worth.....
;D

Zed

scheming_gypsy

I've done it a few times but not hurt anybody in the process. If i put a reserve on then i've asked somebody to bid near the reserve..

Hintza

OK let me set out my stand I am against shill bidding but I have done it twice when I was new to e-bay.

Shill bidding catches out the newbies who have not researched the market (getting sucked into a bidding war) and will put them off e-bay which is a great shame.

In Germany many shops now use e-bay to sell new goods at cracking prices whilst in the UK people want something for nothing.

I have messed around on e-bay for 8 months and have shillbid on one item at my reserve price to try and generate some interest ...ended up buying my self and on the small margins I was working on relisting fees etc made this a fools game.

The only other time was when I tried listing without a reserve and the price was very poor so I bought it myself again costing me money.

Now I have a start price which is the minimum I need to cover costs and then I pray.

The worst thing I find on e-bay are the costs I have to add 16.5% onto anything I sell on e-bay (around £30 mark) to cover listing fees, final value fees and Paypal costs.

I just wish more people would buy and sell new goods fairly. I can source some excellent kit abroad offer it at a good discount to UK retailers but it will not attract any bids.

zorber

moneymart wrote:

Answer :

1. Costs £2.50 listing fee.

2. Costs 15 pence listing fee.

Now perhaps you see why eBay don't like shill bidding?!

Are you really naive enough to think eBay ban shill bidding on ethical grounds?

Even if nobody else bids on the item, and you end up buying it yourself (which you wouldn't, because you'd end the listing just before it finished if there were no other bids), you would still only pay £2.22 final valuation fee, which together with the 15p listing fee, is still only £2.37 in total as opposed to £2.50 to list with a reserve.

no you would let the auction finish, you won your own item, you can then mutuially agrre not to complete the transaction hence get back final fees.
Total cost therefore using this example 15pence!!!