eBay Relisted Item Question for eBay experienced

[brubacca]

I am not an experienced eBayer... In fact, I have never purchased anything from eBay.

I bid on an item on Sunday about 10 minutes before the auction ended. I was the only bid. ( then went to church, actually so I was not watching the auction). Just before auction end someone outbid me by $5. So far so good. Not a problem to be outbid that is how the system works.....

On Monday the same exact item came up for bid by the same seller. Seems a bit fishy to me...
Is this something I should now stay away from? Would it seem that someone is pulling shenanigans hoping for a higher winning bid?

[geebo]

It's possible he has multiples of the same item for sale or the first sale fell through. What is the seller's score? Where is the item located?

[mshump]

If the seller set a reserve on the item and neither bid met it then the seller can re-list the item. It should say right by the current bid block if there is a reserve. The person could also have multiple of the item and list them 1 at a time also.
Ebay claims it watches for that kind of bid inflating,But that's not to say someone doesn't get caught either.

[selkec]

I run into that sometimes. I send the seller a message and ask him how it got relisted. Call him out. Too many cheaters on there

[brubacca]

Well,

There was no reserve, and I doubt that the guy had two of them, when I go into the old item it actually says show relished item.

Would a legitimate winner of the auction punk out in less than a day?

[Darksky]

Also, look at what the seller has listed for sale, does he have multiples of some items, does he seem to be running a store? If so, that may make him seem more reliable. Did you get a notice from eBay saying the seller had re-listed the item? If so, maybe the other buyer flaked. If that is the case, you could contact him and offer the original amount you bid.

Make sure you pay via Paypal to ensure your money is safe? never pay via western union or a money order.

If it's not anything creepy, share the link. The guys here will help you figure it out.

[KeithL]

I've sold a lot of stuff on eBay from time to time - and, as the saying goes, anything that could happen might happen.
Sales get cancelled - from both sides - for all sorts of reasons.
I've had buyers punk out because they won something else - and so didn't have the money to pay for everything they won.
I've also had sellers fail to have the item I bought from them because "it wasn't in the warehouse when we looked for it - sorry".
I even had one who "couldn't get it from their supplier to fulfill the order".... supplier?... order???... hmmmm...
You also get situations where a payment "bounces" for some reason.....
And once the guy who won one of my auctions somehow mysteriously no longer had an account at all by the time the payment was due
(he had one when he bid, but got thrown off some time during the auction).
But, then, maybe he DID have two of them.....

Just take your luck and enjoy it

Dec 3, 2013 17:59:13 GMT -5 brubacca said:

Well,

There was no reserve, and I doubt that the guy had two of them, when I go into the old item it actually says show relished item.

Would a legitimate winner of the auction punk out in less than a day?

[The Mad Norseman]

Dec 3, 2013 17:59:13 GMT -5 brubacca said:

Well,

There was no reserve, and I doubt that the guy had two of them, when I go into the old item it actually says show relished item.

Then I would a legitimate winner of the auction punk out in less than a day?

I'd follow selkec's advice and send him an email inquiry (through eBay), and see what he says...
If no response, or if a weird response, then report him to eBay.

Sounds like he may have had a shill bid lined up by a friend for him so he wouldn't have to sell it at the minimum bid, then of course the "high bidder" pulls out, and he relists to see if he can get more for it.

[Boomzilla]

Hi brubacca - IMHO, what you have experienced is a "shill bid." The idea is that the seller gets a friend to bid up the item so you'll keep bidding too. This drives the price upward to the seller's benefit. The friend, in this case, won the auction because you weren't around to counter bid. Therefore, the seller and the "buyer" cancel the transaction & re-list the item again. It's dishonest, but eBay gets the listing fee anyway, so they aren't too keen on monitoring it. I'd be reluctant to bid on that item again unless I contacted the seller & asked for a credible explanation.

[brubacca]

Ok, that is what my gut was telling me. Thanks for the validation. I'll let it rot this time.

They probably were trying to up my bid and got burnt.

[Dark Ranger]

Dec 3, 2013 18:42:23 GMT -5 Boomzilla said:

Hi brubacca - IMHO, what you have experienced is a "shill bid." The idea is that the seller gets a friend to bid up the item so you'll keep bidding too. This drives the price upward to the seller's benefit. The friend, in this case, won the auction because you weren't around to counter bid. Therefore, the seller and the "buyer" cancel the transaction & re-list the item again. It's dishonest, but eBay gets the listing fee anyway, so they aren't too keen on monitoring it. I'd be reluctant to bid on that item again unless I contacted the seller & asked for a credible explanation.

Very interesting. Thanks for the insight.

Stuff like this really pisses me off. I'm one of the most honest guys you'll ever meet, and these tricks aren't even on my radar screen. I'm sorry, but cheating and dishonest bidding is just wrong. Pulling these stunts to get an extra buck is in very poor taste.

This is exactly why I no longer use eBay thanks to being burned in the past. Sure, some of the blame rests on my shoulders for not being clever enough to catch it. But let's be realistic, the seller was engaging in nefarious behavior.


Brubacca, your gut served you well. I also learned something here today.

[DYohn]

As a buyer and seller on Ebay since 1999, your experience with this item is quite common. It could have been caused by any number of issues. But don't sweat it. If you want it, bid again. Or wait for another to show up from a different seller.

Here's my guidelines for buying things.

1) Always research the item and see what it costs from other outlets, or what similar items have sold for in the past.
2) Never bid higher than your self-imposed maximum. If you miss out on this one another will come up eventually.
3) Never buy from a seller with less than 75% positive feed backs.
4) Watch out for inflated shipping costs and report these to Ebay.
5) Most straight auctions are won and lost in the final 30 seconds. My wife, whose Ebay user name is "Evilsniper," never bids with more than 5 seconds left. Place early bids if you like or if you can't be there when something ends, but if you really want something be on the system when the auction ends or use a bidding service.
6) Although Ebay rules have become tilted strongly toward sellers in recent years, any time you feel something is not right or you are being lied to or cheated, report the user to Ebay.
7) ALWAYS pay using PayPal. This way if the item arrives and it not what you expected, you can get your money back much more easily using their buyer protection resolution system than by asking the seller for a refund.

And have fun.

[brubacca]

I generally buy new, leftover, on sale sort of items. Realistically this has made me uncomfortable for this particular item so I'll move on.

It may be totally legitimate, but I'm not willing to chance it. If this guy is willing to pull this stuff then he'd probably have a good story. I felt the price was a little high considering it had some cosmetic flaws on it.

It is not creepy, but it is an audio product in competition with the DC-1 so I don't want to post it here.

Maybe I'll just give the DC-1 a shot in my system.

[The Mad Norseman]

Dec 3, 2013 19:12:27 GMT -5 DYohn said:

As a buyer and seller on Ebay since 1999, your experience with this item is quite common. It could have been caused by any number of issues. But don't sweat it. If you want it, bid again. Or wait for another to show up from a different seller.

Here's my guidelines for buying things.

1) Always research the item and see what it costs from other outlets, or what similar items have sold for in the past.
2) Never bid higher than your self-imposed maximum. If you miss out on this one another will come up eventually.
3) Never buy from a seller with less than 75% positive feed backs.
4) Watch out for inflated shipping costs and report these to Ebay.
5) Most straight auctions are won and lost in the final 30 seconds. My wife, whose Ebay user name is "Evilsniper," never bids with more than 5 seconds left. Place early bids if you like or if you can't be there when something ends, but if you really want something be on the system when the auction ends or use a bidding service.
6) Although Ebay rules have become tilted strongly toward sellers in recent years, any time you feel something is not right or you are being lied to or cheated, report the user to Ebay.
7) ALWAYS pay using PayPal. This way if the item arrives and it not what you expected, you can get your money back much more easily using their buyer protection resolution system than by asking the seller for a refund.

And have fun.

I generally agree with what dyohn has listed above, (and I also do a lot of buying and selling on eBay), except I'd amend his numbers 3 and 6 thus:

3) Never bid on items listed by a seller with less than 95% positive ratings. 95% is VERY EASY to achieve, and anything less than that is a real red flag! Most should easily maintain well above 98% without even trying.
6) I disagree that rules have become tilted in favor of the sellers - just the opposite in my experience. Sellers can't even leave anything but positive feedback now, and eBay doesn't go after dishonest buyers who bid and bid, but don't pay (I've tracked 'em!). There are all kinds of 'buyer protection' rules going on now to protect the buyer (as there should be), but not much for the seller except for ever increasing selling fees (10% of final valuations + listing fees), paltry discounts on those fees for the 'highest rated' sellers. And maintaining that rating and discounts for the sellers is onerous...

Yeah, otherwise we're in agreement here!

[pallpoul]

3) Never bid on items listed by a seller with less than 95% positive ratings. 95% is VERY EASY to achieve, and anything less than that is a real red flag! Most should easily maintain well above 98% without even trying.
6) I disagree that rules have become tilted in favor of the sellers - just the opposite in my experience. Sellers can't even leave anything but positive feedback now, and eBay doesn't go after dishonest buyers who bid and bid, but don't pay (I've tracked 'em!). There are all kinds of 'buyer protection' rules going on now to protect the buyer (as there should be), but not much for the seller except for ever increasing selling fees (10% of final valuations + listing fees), paltry discounts on those fees for the 'highest rated' sellers. And maintaining that rating and discounts for the sellers is onerous...

Yeah, otherwise we're in agreement here! [/quote]


my 2 cents:

I totally agree with you, the eBay rules are tilted strongly towards the buyers and they do nothing about bidders who don't pay. The fees keep increasing and in my humble opinion the eBay model is going to eventually fall for regular people like us who occasionally sell on eBay, and it will be invaded by Chinese sellers and the companies that maintain an eBay store.

After paying eBay fees and PayPal fees, which is owned by eBay btw, you end up paying close to 15% in fees,...!

I find Amazon fees more reasonable although their seller policies are very stringent.

Look at eBay stock's price, and follow it's financial news, the guidance shows no real growth and it has lost it allure b/c fewer people are selling on eBay.

[Darksky]

Evil Sniper- Ha!

[brubacca]

Guy got an extra $35 out of the new auction. Probably paid that in fees just to relist the item