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  1. chipsotoole Jun 30, 2018

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    Hello Omegoids,
    I just wanted to put this out there and see what you've noticed.
    When I do any bidding on fleabay I often check to see who the other bidders are, specifically their feedback stats. You can get an idea pretty quickly if you're up against collecting hard hitters, flip merchants, lowball chancers , or just for fun bidders...(the real pros here at OF are mostly T minus 4 seconds snipers)
    Lately however I'm seeing screeds of bidders (well up to 3 or 4) on auctions from seemingly reputable sellers, with no, or extremely low feedback, (despite being ebay members for more than 18 months) bumping up the bidding levels in smallish increments.
    If this was coming from just one source I'd reckon it was the owner or one of his buddies doing it to generate interest. But as you can always end an auction early, set a reserve, or withdraw an auction on the grounds it is ,ahem "missing parts or damaged" why would a seller do this if the price isn't going in the direction he or she wants? .Is it possible that some sellers are creating multiple identities to bump up prices and subliminally seduce folk into thinking its a highly sought after item?
    I've been an ebayer since 2000 , so I don't think i'm imagining this.
    Thoughts?
     
    connieseamaster likes this.
  2. drhex Jun 30, 2018

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    Probably stolen accounts used to divvy out the limits of the regular bidders and thereby inflate price.
     
    connieseamaster likes this.
  3. ulackfocus Jun 30, 2018

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    Shill accounts. The seller has a second (or third) screen name.
     
    Mark020 likes this.
  4. GuiltyBoomerang Jun 30, 2018

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    I saw this on a Nivada Grenchen with a tiny Valjoux chronograph movement...a 10 rep bidder bumped it all the way up to $800+ from a 0.99 no reserve price.

    It has been relisted a couple of times since with a much higher BIN.
     
    dragoman likes this.
  5. Banner Roar Jun 30, 2018

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    I have been doing the auctions thing for many years now. The same goes for all cases....set a price and stick to it. Online you get shill bidders.....at auction houses many auctioneers will bid up items.
     
    GuiltyBoomerang and ICONO like this.
  6. Vercingetorix Spam Risk Jun 30, 2018

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    Maybe longtime ebayers are bidding up items to make it look like schill bidding. This may scare away other bidders. You will never know the difference unless the item realists.
     
  7. glownyc Jul 1, 2018

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    There is a fee when ending an auction early.
     
  8. chipsotoole Jul 1, 2018

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    Really. didn't know as I don't do it.. how much?
     
  9. glownyc Jul 1, 2018

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    It's a percentage of the high bid at the time you end it. Not sure what percentage I just saw someone complaining about it on another forum.
     
  10. GuiltyBoomerang Jul 1, 2018

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    Same as final value fee on a completed auction, which differs based on final price and if you are a business seller (lower percentages.)
    Also, you can not end an auction less than 12 hours to the finishing time: rather you must contactthe high bidder your intentions and they must agree to cancel the sale. You still pay a final value fee if this happens.

    For a private seller, regardless of what your item is, you pay a flat 10.9% final value fee which is capped at $440. This does not include PayPal's 2.4% cut (should you accept payment that way.)

    Sellers with a basic store package pay a maximum of 9% final value fees which has further percentage decreases with the two higher tiers of store packages. They also get tier categories for the category of item they are selling, meaning different percentages based on item category. Watches are in the highest item category of Tier 3, which will always be 9% or less. Final value fees are capped at $400 per item.
     
    Edited Jul 1, 2018
  11. jimmyd13 Jul 1, 2018

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    I've had similar bids on my auctions. Now, I know it's not me nor anyone "helping me out". I've come to the conclusion that these are fraudulent bidders. When such bidders have won in the past I've had a message explaining that they're on missionary work in Nigeria and asking me to post the item to them at their new address. I've also had similar "winners" cancelled by eBay before any message was received. Remember, you (as a seller) can't give a buyer negative feedback any more. I explain on my auctions that bids will not be accepted from buyers with less than +10 feedback. Should someone with a lower feedback rating want to place a bid, they must contact me first or I will cancel their bid.
     
  12. 72c Jul 1, 2018

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    If you're getting a lot of fraudulent bids, it's worth taking a look at your buyer requirement options via your account settings. I have found it really helps to use the strictest settings for non-paying bidders (max 2 NPBs in 12 months), choosing the option to block bids from countries you don't post to, and only allowing bids from those with registered payment info. If you haven't already, take advantage of your buyer ID block list too, whether it helps or not I can highly recommend it for the satisfaction of having a big list of barred IDs ;)
     
  13. larryganz The cable guy Jul 2, 2018

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    @chipsotoole I've seen this kind of thing going on for several years, and I caused a little commotion by calling out the activity a few years back where the seller turned out to be a respected OF member. I don't recall if we ever cleared things up or not, it was a while back. I don't think this is anything new, just like the fake "paid" reviews on Amazon.
     
    chipsotoole likes this.
  14. Vanallard Aug 20, 2018

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    Dan S likes this.