Have you ever experienced a phantom bidder online?
Can I point out that there is an error of fact in the article? If this starts to happen I always check the bid history, including automatic bids. It is simple to do and reveals quite a lot of things. I have only one suspcious transaction so far and that was not significant. I set a maximum and if the item exceeds that, then I stop.
Tue, 08/06/2010 - 14:47
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Yes, it happened to me quite a lot when bidding on eBay.co.uk until I resorted to using the 'Buy it Now' feature instead of wasting my time bidding against a scammer or 'machine'. I realised that it was either a 'machine' or a 'scam' when I walked away from one bidding exercise and although the bid got closed to one unknown buyer at a bid price higher than my own bid BUT I was contacted by the seller a day later if I was still interested in buying the product again at my bid price. You know what, I refused & turned it down.
Tue, 08/06/2010 - 15:49
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It's one of those things and always going to be open to abuse. If I bid on something unless I really cant be there at the end then I just put in my maximum and wait and see if item is mine next time I'm on the site. If I can be at the PC when an item ends then again I enter in what I'm prepared to pay and no more, always in the last few seconds of the end too.
I must say not all second chance offers are bogus, I've sold on ebay, been let down by the winner and approached the next person on the bidding list to try and secure a sale after being let down. I've had occasions where I've had duplicate items for sale but only listed the one and again contacted the last bidder to see if they still want the item. I've also been approached as a second chance offer and the way I see it is that you placed the bid in the first place and was prepared if won to buy they item so if not already found another option then I've gone ahead with the sale. Why cut off your nose to spite your face.
Tue, 08/06/2010 - 16:25
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Happened to me. I was bidding for a car and, to cut a long story short, the "winner" was the seller (a garage) - who used an alternative linked profile. Needless to say I was not a happy bunny!
Tue, 08/06/2010 - 17:27
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It can happen quite legitimately.
Say an ebay item has a minimum bid of £1 and the first bidder bids a maximum of £50. It will show a bid of £1. You come along and bid £1.20, but are automatically outbid to say £1.40. So you bid to the next increment and are outbid again and so on.
You won't see what the others have put as there maximum.
No phantoms bidding and quite easy to understand.
Mark
Wed, 09/06/2010 - 14:15
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On several occasions I suspected a 'phantom bidder' and reported my suspicions to Ebay. What have Ebay now done ? they have tried to disguise the bidder so as not to lose out on the profits of the higher bids themselves.
Another thing that is happening more and more often on Ebay is the listing of 'look-alike' unbranded counterfeit goods,i have also reported these to Ebay in the past and they continually turn a blind eye to it because it is not in their financial interests to do otherwise.
You must have your wits about you at all times on Ebay and in some instances remember the old saying as well, if the price of an item (even when open to bids) looks to be too good to be true,then it is probably an unbranded counterfeit.
If anyone wants an Ebay item number to view and which illustrates what i am saying,then just ask and i will be only too happy to supply one.
Wed, 09/06/2010 - 14:44
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You sound like a typical con artist and someone to avoid on e-bay.
Wed, 09/06/2010 - 15:07
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That last comment of mine was aimed at debbsian by the way.
Wed, 09/06/2010 - 15:09
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That last comment of mine was aimed at debbsian by the way.
Wed, 09/06/2010 - 15:09
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I totally disagree with notamugdear. Why is Debbsian a con artist? Nothing he/she has said is against ebay rules. As a seller, you are always offered the opportunity by ebay itself to send a second chance offer to the second highest bidder: this happens even if the transaction with the highest bidder is successfully completed - therefore it seems that, far from breaking the rules, ebay are actually encouraging sellers to do this.
Wed, 09/06/2010 - 16:19
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I dont know why you'd call me a con artist notamudear. My comments on here implied why not all of second chance offers are bogus if a person such as myself was genuinely selling 2 of the same item but wanted to save on ebay rip off listing fees. I have quite high numbered feedback on ebay so I must be doing somthing right and certainly not a con artist! Offence taken at your pathetic comments. Maybe you should have taken a little more time to have read what I was trying to say.
Wed, 09/06/2010 - 16:51
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Thank you Guest (not verifeid)
Wed, 09/06/2010 - 16:45
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For anyone who has read my above comments and would like to view an original item and compare it with an unbranded counterfeit item then just compare the item numbers below on Ebay, you will soon spot the counterfeit item. EASY!!!
If you do report it to Ebay they will do nothing about it because it will infringe on their profits.
Item number: 140415239862
Item number: 250613964977
Wed, 09/06/2010 - 18:46
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I am always warey of some business' on Ebay who have lots of items listed and they always sell for top prices. My suspicion is that they have a team of bidders (staff) bidding thinks up to generate income for the shops.
Wed, 09/06/2010 - 22:26
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For a lot of items, It is no more interesting to buy through e-bay. I tried this last month to bid on a camera. Each time I found that the price on the market is approximately the same as on e-bay ( 5 to £10 difference), some times higher than the market. I prefer to buy on the market or known online shops, with waranty.
Before buying on e-bay or amazon, compare the price of the item with the online shops.
Thu, 10/06/2010 - 09:57
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