Ebay and Shill Bidding

[ard]

Anyone have a sense of how big an issue this is?

Occasionally one sees this mentioned, but it seems VERY hard to identify- and harder to prove.

Indeed, people who are ripped off never even know it...

Comments?

A

[SCC]

There is no doubt in my mind that it happens alot on ebay. I do know that ebay monitors ip address's and patterns to see if people are doing it. I was reading how ebay and the feds convicted Ken Walton for shilling among other things on ebay.
Regarding being ripped off, in my case if I find something I like I figure out what it is going for on ebay. I pick my own number of what I am willing to pay for the item and then I wait until the last 2 or 3 minutes of the auction and bid on it. If I get it for less I did well, if I paid what I was willing I'm ok with that and if I lost the auction I just move on to the next one. This method gives me piece of mind when bidding on ebay.

[de Witt]

The good faith aspect of contract is becoming less and less important. Ive had this happen several times, I bid and I know that there is a 90% chance that I am the last bidder. HOWEVER, there always seems to be some bidder that squeeks by at the last second. A few hours later, I get an email saying that the high bidder dropped out and that the item is offered at the high bid. I tell them to bite me and I report it. I doubt it does any good, ebay is quite lax, which is a shame because there are so many good deals that get ruined by this bad faith bidding and contracting.

[m32m5]

I've actually had good success on ebay. Much like SCC, I do some research ahead of time, know what I consider to be a fair price and stick with my expectations. Personally, ebay has saved me a ton of money on items I would have purchased elsewhere for more money.

Guess you take the good with the bad.

[ard]

I usually snipe as well- 4 seconds before the end.

Just reported someone for shill bidding- evidence was very strong, ebay did nothing... ($250 DSC module)

then the guy tried to shill bid on another item, and nobody bit- his shill bid was the high bid... so he pulled the item and cancelled the auction... ebay finally pulled his shill ID (they let him keep his larger account)

Ebay makes money based on the sale price-I think they have ZERO incentive to bust shills.

[M-Fünf]

Originally Posted by ard

Ebay makes money based on the sale price-I think they have ZERO incentive to bust shills.

Or maybe they PAY the shills...or they are the shills themselves...