Strange bidding activity on item

nwc389

I’m currently selling a a hifi amplifier . I’ve listed the item as uk postage only and had one uk based bidder .
This morning I’ve had 2 separate bids within 5 minutes of each other one bidder listed as being based in China and the other based in Latvia and it has got me a bit worried as it seems suspicious.
The uk bidder is still winning the auction but I really don’t want any bother with this sale as we had an absolute nightmare earlier in the year with another item and dodgy buyer then damage by Parcel2go
Should I be worried?

soolin

nwc389 wrote: »

I’m currently selling a a hifi amplifier . I’ve listed the item as uk postage only and had one uk based bidder .
This morning I’ve had 2 separate bids within 5 minutes of each other one bidder listed as being based in China and the other based in Latvia and it has got me a bit worried as it seems suspicious.
The uk bidder is still winning the auction but I really don’t want any bother with this sale as we had an absolute nightmare earlier in the year with another item and dodgy buyer then damage by Parcel2go
Should I be worried?

Have you got global shipping enabled, and have you got your settings tight enough to exclude foreign bidders?

The best way to check,is to log out then find your item, what does it show in the countries as being available for,postage and by what method?

nwc389

All my settings are uk bidders only and other countries are blocked
I now have a third bidder based in a different country who has joined in but the original uk bidder is still winning..
I still have a full day to go on the auction and something doesn’t look right with these 3 different bidders but I don’t know what

soolin

nwc389 wrote: »

All my settings are uk bidders only and other countries are blocked
I now have a third bidder based in a different country who has joined in but the original uk bidder is still winning..
I still have a full day to go on the auction and something doesn’t look right with these 3 different bidders but I don’t know what

As above, are you in the GSP ? I sell a lot to all sorts of weird and wonderful countries via GSP and my liability finishes as soon as it is received at the eBay UK hub.

nwc389

I’m not in GSP so would only be expecting to sell to uk based bidders
Something isn’t right but I think I’ve worked out what it might be , the original bidder is a dealer I think and i have a feeling that the 3 other bids are ‘bid shielding’ so he gets the amplifier at the starting bid price .

ThinkingOfLinking

soolin wrote: »

As above, are you in the GSP ? I sell a lot to all sorts of weird and wonderful countries via GSP and my liability finishes as soon as it is received at the eBay UK hub.

I didn't realise that being part of th GSP would give a seller this protection. Do you know if this is also true for private sellers,as if so, I might consider opening up my auctions to overseas buyers.

[Deleted User]

Flickering_Ember wrote: »

I didn't realise that being part of th GSP would give a seller this protection. Do you know if this is also true for private sellers,as if so, I might consider opening up my auctions to overseas buyers.

I believe so, yes.

soolin

Flickering_Ember wrote: »

I didn't realise that being part of th GSP would give a seller this protection. Do you know if this is also true for private sellers,as if so, I might consider opening up my auctions to overseas buyers.

As far as I can see there is no restriction for business or private sellers. I use it on both business and private and have not had issues with getting eBay protection when things are lost after they send them on - interestingly I have had 2 losses , both to Italy.

NBLondon

nwc389 wrote: »

I’m not in GSP so would only be expecting to sell to uk based bidders
Something isn’t right but I think I’ve worked out what it might be , the original bidder is a dealer I think and i have a feeling that the 3 other bids are ‘bid shielding’ so he gets the amplifier at the starting bid price .

How would that work? If the dodgy bidders are below the current highest bid - they don't do anything to stop another bidder coming in higher or sniping do they? It would only work if the dodgy bidders went in at a ridiculously high level to put off any other bidders and then withdrew at the last minute so the supposed dealer is left winning at the low price.

Can you not just cancel the overseas bids on the grounds of "a country I don't post to" and see what happens? If they re-appear then it would look as if someone is trying to wreck or manipulate your auction.

soolin

NBLondon wrote: »

How would that work? If the dodgy bidders are below the current highest bid - they don't do anything to stop another bidder coming in higher or sniping do they? It would only work if the dodgy bidders went in at a ridiculously high level to put off any other bidders and then withdrew at the last minute so the supposed dealer is left winning at the low price.

Can you not just cancel the overseas bids on the grounds of "a country I don't post to" and see what happens? If they re-appear then it would look as if someone is trying to wreck or manipulate your auction.

That's exactly how a shield bid works- it fails to work though if a sniper goes in at the last moment after the shield bids have been removed.

It isn't so common now though as buyers can't remove bids within an hour of the auction ending (might be longer, I don't recall).

nwc389

NBLondon wrote: »

How would that work? If the dodgy bidders are below the current highest bid - they don't do anything to stop another bidder coming in higher or sniping do they? It would only work if the dodgy bidders went in at a ridiculously high level to put off any other bidders and then withdrew at the last minute so the supposed dealer is left winning at the low price.

Can you not just cancel the overseas bids on the grounds of "a country I don't post to" and see what happens? If they re-appear then it would look as if someone is trying to wreck or manipulate your auction.

I think how it works is initial bidder puts a high bid in to secure the item and then the bid shielders put in lower bids but cancel them before the item finishes allowing the original bidder to pick up the item at the lowest price .
I cancelled the 3 overseas bids and the original bidder as they would have all been connected. I checked the profiles of all 4 and there was something off about the whole thing, blocked all four of them .
Auction ended last night and had a couple of bidders come in at the end which was more like I expected.
My husband thought I was overreacting but the whole thing just didn’t feel right . This is going to be the last time I use eBay for anything other than selling smaller bits and pieces as its just not worth the hassle.