Shill bidding maybe?

lallysmum

I am looking to buy a replacement tv for dd after hers sort of went !!!!!! this weekend.

I am currently the winning bidder (an hour to go) on one.

I bid up to my maximum price yesterday, no point going any higher as I can buy a new one for not much more.

For some reason I decided to goofbay the seller and recent bidders.

The seller has a few kitchen appliances for sale as well, some recently sold. My competitor for the tv is as below. New buyer, 1 feedback with 62% bids for the same buyer.. sounds suspiciously like shill bidding to me.

Bidder Information
Bidder: r***s( 1 )
Feedback: 100%Positive
Item description: fridge freezer
Bids on this item: 1

30-Day Summary
Total bids: 8
Items bid on: 6
Bid activity (%) with this seller: 62%
Bid retractions: 0
Bid retractions (6 months): 0

Now, I'm happy with my bid, but am a little peeved that I could be paying more for something that I otherwise would if an alternate id had pushed the price up iykwim. (just noticed as well that R****S won the fridge freezer, and it was mysteriously relisted the same night...)

Item ends in 45 mins, I suppose it's too late to retract my bid? Not that I have any clue how to do that..

porto_bello

OP just logged on and noticed your post. If you haven't won the auction and paid already: don't, for the moment at least, and give yourself a few days to watch the fridge freezer and bidding on the seller's other items. [The more evidence you have of shill bidding, the better].

Whatever ebay or anyone else says, shill bidding continues to occur and I continue to stumble across some pretty obvious cases (e.g. 100% bid correlation with the same bidder placing counter-bids on everything the same seller sells and, as you say, when the shill bidder wins, the item immediately reappears on sale, offered by the original seller!)

The fact that the fridge freezer was won, then reappeared on sale again and the winning bidder is continuing to push up prices on the other seller's items speaks volumes. If the same shill bidding ID places bids again, second time around, having won it first time, the evidence of shill bidding is pretty clear.

If this does happen, with this evidence, I suggest you approach ebay, stating that it's pretty clear that the seller is shill bidding. Provide all the item numbers upon which the shill bid ID is bidding on the same seller's items, especially if they bid, win then the item goes on sale again and they bid on the item a second time. Ebay will undoubtedly try to fob you off, so it's up to you, what further action, if any you take.

When this scenario happened to me, (and the evidence was crystal clear in my example, across a number of relisted items) I expressed disappointment that ebay was ignoring obvious evidence of shill bidding, so I would have to take the evidence elsewhere. I asked for the name of the representative and explained that I will formally write to ebay, the seller and consumer direct with the evidence. All of a sudden, ebay was able to act to void the auction and I was given a £20 voucher to leave the issue in their hands.

I was also able to provide the identity of the shill bidding ID. If ever you fail to win an auction and suspect shill bidding, if the suspect ID won the auction, you can discover the identity of the shill bid ID by following these steps:

Click "Advanced" next to the search button, at the top of the page.
On the 'Advanced Search' page, click "By bidder" on the left hand side
Enter your own bidder ID, then tick the box "include completed listings" and click 'search'.
A list of the items you have bid on will appear, which also shows the winning bidder's ID: So if the shill bidding ID won the auction, it will be shown here.

The most effective way to counter shill bidders is to use an auction sniper or manually place bids in the last few seconds - either way, the shill bidder won't have time to counter-bid. It's also highly effective in preventing bidding wars!

lallysmum

Thanks so much for the reply and the really useful info. I was just annoyed as it seemed so obvious to me.

I ended up going on live chat and speaking to an ebay rep who investigated and was "pleased to inform me that action was going to be taken against the seller." I asked her what to do if I won and she advised me not to pay and that the transaction was to be cancelled.

I did win in the end - for my max price, the only bidder against me was r****s - I could have won it for £10.70 instead of £60+. So far, bearing in mind I "won" at 10pm last night, I have had 3 ebay messages asking for payment.. the last one at 6am this morning!

The auction is still showing in My Ebay though, and I am still getting the "I need to pay for 1 item" thing, but I'll leave it a day or two before contacting ebay though.

Again, thanks so much for your help.

porto_bello

I'm pleased ebay have done the decent thing without question. Perhaps you're not the first buyer to raise such concerns?

Repeatedly sending 3 payment requests within hours of an auction finishing shows the seller is anxious for you to pay up quickly for some reason - and possibly not a good one!

If the seller keeps on, just to give yourself a little breathing space, you could message them back, saying that ebay have been in contact with you and have directed you NOT to make a payment to the seller and that the transaction will be cancelled.

If the seller asks why, tell them that ebay would not divulge the reasons or what actions they were taking. [Ebay never do].

soolin

Be careful though, ebay are not above telling porkies to get people off the line. If they do not cancel the transaction then seller can raise an INR against you and you'll get a strike.

lallysmum

That's what I was worried about. I asked that during the conversation and she told me that the transaction should be cancelled. I thought I'd give it 24 hours and then contact them again. That's still within paying time (for NPB disputes) isn't it?

I usually only bid on "items ending soon" so tend to pay within the hour at most, is it 3 days for an NPB?

soolin

lallysmum wrote: »

That's what I was worried about. I asked that during the conversation and she told me that the transaction should be cancelled. I thought I'd give it 24 hours and then contact them again. That's still within paying time (for NPB disputes) isn't it?

I usually only bid on "items ending soon" so tend to pay within the hour at most, is it 3 days for an NPB?

4 days for an NPB so you have time to keep on at ebay to cancel this as promised.

lallysmum

Just spoke to live chat again (anything to get out of cleaning, lol) and got this:

Barry Bentworth
I realise how important it is for you to have this issue taken care of. From reviewing on your seller's account, I can confirm that we've taken appropriate action against your report.
Barry Bentworth
You're no longer obliged to pay for this item.

And he then went on to tell me to contact them if the seller raises an NPB and they'll get it removed.

Thanks again for your help.

soolin

Well done.

porto_bello

soolin wrote: »

Well done.

Ditto :dance:

Result!
Martin Lewis is the patron saint of consumer protection!

lallysmum

porto_bello wrote: »

Ditto :dance:


Martin Lewis is the patron saint of consumer protection!

Indeed. If it weren't for this site, I'd have no idea shill bidding even existed!

(And half my friends would still think it's ok to have "buyer is responsible for things lost in the post as I have proof of postage" written on all their listings! I *may* lecture them a bit whenever they mention it, lol)