Old hand shooting herself in the foot?

martmatt

Hi, after being a lurker for some time I'm going to dip my toe in the water.

I have bought a couple of pairs of quality all leather shoes from a reputable seller and am satisfied enough to want some more.

She had lots to sell, all of which started at £30 with a buy it now of £50. Lots of auctions went round and round without bids, presumably costing her a fair bit in fees. Almost every pair that did sell went for the straight £30.

Se has recently changed tack. Everything starts at £0.99 (no res) with a BIN of £50. She seems to be getting a few more bids, but spread over a wider number of items so they are stuck at £0.99.

I had intended to bid on several pairs in my size in the closing minutes and clear up, but surprise surprise, the seller pulled the lot with a couple of days to go. This has happened twice on a ten day cycle and I firmly believe it will happen again.

Why would a seasoned veteran with a 2500+ feedback change to such a silly strategy?

Should I shop her for what appears to fee evasion, and would it do any good?

Is creating a 2nd ID and bidding against yourself to get the price up to something that will make the seller less likely to pull the auction permitted behaviour?

Can anyone think of a another way to profit from this?

Martin.

Bargainbabe_2

Can you give us the name of this seller to give a more accurate opinion?

soolin

martmatt wrote:

Hi, after being a lurker for some time I'm going to dip my toe in the water.


Why would a seasoned veteran with a 2500+ feedback change to such a silly strategy?

Should I shop her for what appears to fee evasion, and would it do any good?

Is creating a 2nd ID and bidding against yourself to get the price up to something that will make the seller less likely to pull the auction permitted behaviour?

Can anyone think of a another way to profit from this?

Martin.

Your answer to the first bit lies in another thread on this board:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=59173

For some reason people are reluctant to list at the price they actually want and try to find loopholes in the ebay system to save listing fees. Yes this is fee avoidance and can be reported through the ebay system:

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/contact_us/_base/index.html

There isn't any way to profit from this, but maybe if the seller gets a warning they will have to start listing at a realistic price.

Soo

bleugh

personally I start all my items at 99p

soolin

bleugh wrote:

personally I start all my items at 99p

Starting at 99p isn't a problem, I've done it myself. The problem is where just before the auction finishes your ealise you haven't made enough on the item and pull the auction.

There is one company I buy from start all their auction at 99 cents, but they have their market so well sussed that nothing ever sells for less than $20 which is what they probably plan on. I should imagine Bluegh that you know your own market and work it out in a similair fashion.

Soo

carnet

soolin wrote:

Starting at 99p isn't a problem, I've done it myself. The problem is where just before the auction finishes your ealise you haven't made enough on the item and pull the auction.
Soo

Of course, eBay, in their infinite wisdom, altered their rules some time ago and now, if your auction has a bid, you can only pull it if there is at least 12 hours before its due to finish.

soolin

carnet wrote:

Of course, eBay, in their infinite wisdom, altered their rules some time ago and now, if your auction has a bid, you can only pull it if there is at least 12 hours before its due to finish.

A good move if it stops people playing the system. However, it can be got round if a seller removes all the bids and leaves the auction with no bids showing.

Soo