nstreet said:
rederech said:
Another thing to watch out for is 'Shilling' this is where the seller gets someone to bid up the auction. Sometimes hard to detect but it well worth looking at the history of the others involved in any auction.
I've noticed on a few auctions that a bidder will make 8 or 9 bids in a row, often grossly inflating the price. Why would he bid against himself. Is this what you mean by 'shilling'?
Hi
Shilling is where you get a friend to bid up the auction in an attempt to make buyer pay more. Sometimes the shiller ends up winning the auction and you will get a email from the seller stating that the last winning bid was false and offering you the item as the second highest bidder. You should then check the bidding history and the feedback of the original winning bidder. Usually a shiller has very little feedback and can be previously linked to seller. Although this is very difficult to detect.
I normally wait until 30 seconds before the end of an auction and put
in the maximum I wish to pay for the item. eBay software then bids for you until you are either outbid or you have won the auction.
This way you are not caught up in the chase for the item and pay over the top.
I have seen second hand items on Ebay sell higher than you could buy
new on the main street . This is because it is human nature especially in the heat of the auction nearing the end that you want to win the item no matter the cost.
There was one case I know of on eBay where the buyer bid and bought a new television only to find out that Asda were selling it £50 cheeper.
The buyer wanted a reduction in the price but was contracted to pay the
bidding price which he reluctantly did.
In the case where a bidder makes several bids in a row which appear
against himself. This should not happen on eBay but sometimes on other sites. This is where the buyer has placed an initial bid of say £1 he can then set a tool which bids for him automatically up to the level he sets say £20. It appears that he is bidding against himself but he is actually outbidding other bidders who do not show up in the bidding list.
Hope this helps and happy eBaying.