Wednesday, June 17, 2009

eBay shill bidders..

I use eBay a lot. I've scored some cheap building materials and bikes on it over the years. Ive also sold a lot of gear for other people. Im honest in my descriptions and transactions.
Some people aren't.

Take this cement mixer for example.








I waited up to bid on it and was outbid by a zero feedback user. The only other item the secret bidder had ever bid upon was another one by the same seller. (you can check this in the bidding history even though the identity is hidden).








I thought this a bit suspicious initially and this was reinforced when the seller relisted the mixer first thing the next morning.

Now you'd think if the person who won bidding on it declined to continue the transaction there would be a few days of back and forth and some bad feedback left.

Not in this case.

Now most sellers would offer a 2nd chance to the next lowest bidder as a matter of course. Nope, he just re lists the item and hopes it goes higher this time.

This would indicate the seller has another account which he uses to drive his auctions higher.

Its called "shill bidding" and it sucks because eBay cant/wont police it.

The higher an item sells for, equals more money for them.

Now I'd be happy to purchase the cement mixer, even at a higher price. But do I want to deal with someone whose sales are fraudulent?

Ummm No.

So fuck you pigsy427. You're obviously shifty.

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