bidding up question

[poncho]

example :

i bid my maximum of £100 for an item
it finishes @ £99!

is it possible that a seller can see what my maximum bid is and get someone else to bid it up near to my max bid so they get more money?

 

[theforceuk]

I've always wanted to no this as well. Surely not though?

 

[poncho]

i thinks it weird the ended auction was few pence of my max bid :?

 

[itfciain]

They can't see you max bid for sure - however, if you were to shill then you would probably underbid set amounts (so 99 hoping that someone put their max bid in at 100) - normally you can tell shilling as they go up in small increments

However, it is not always the case - I guess if you thought it was worth 100 then maybe someone else did too

 

[poncho]

it was in increments of £5's so maybe genuine other bidder. ahwell i won the auction for my maximum bid in anycase i guess

 

[Palifan]

It's always annoying when this happens and I've had it happen to me at least 4 times recently which does make me wonder if there's some dodgy bit of software out there to do this. As has been said it could well be the luck of the bid but it almost never feels quite as satisfying winning something with your top bid.

Hopefully you're happy with the item though which is what really counts.

Ian

 

[theforceuk]

I'm struggling to find stuff to bid on at the moment anything I'm after seems to be BIN. Anyone else noticed this? Good to know sellers can't tell what your max bid is.

 

[Bootyhunter]

All they would need to do is stick a big bid in, see where he highest bid is then retract
The big bid then use another account raise it up to just below your bid.

 

[SublevelStudios]

All they would need to do is stick a big bid in, see where he highest bid is then retract
The big bid then use another account raise it up to just below your bid.

Very true, as long as it was not within 24 hours of the auction ending as you can't re-tract then. But I had exactly this happen on numerous times, so I've pulled my bid too and left it to the last minute wherever possible.

 

[steve obi wan]

eBay is a bloody mine field :shock:

 

[itfciain]

All they would need to do is stick a big bid in, see where he highest bid is then retract
The big bid then use another account raise it up to just below your bid.

They can do this but eBay do notify you that this has happened - so if it regularly happens with the same seller then you know what they are up to - equally, you can also withdraw your bid if this happens

 

[stormcab]

Someone told me you can get someone to bid well over so that it reveals the last highest bidder, then yes they retract the bid. Obviously if this happens regularly then I assume eBay will pick up on it, but then what's stopping that seller asking all his friends and family to rotate and take turns so that eBay just sees different buyers each time.

I don't know what other little tricks people employ, but to minimize this I always bid with my max last minute. This technique seems to be used by lots of people as I've watched so many items hovering around a couple of hundred for several days, then shoot up to £700-£1000 in the last 60 seconds.

 

[itfciain]

Someone told me you can get someone to bid well over so that it reveals the last highest bidder, then yes they retract the bid. Obviously if this happens regularly then I assume eBay will pick up on it, but then what's stopping that seller asking all his friends and family to rotate and take turns so that eBay just sees different buyers each time.

I don't know what other little tricks people employ, but to minimize this I always bid with my max last minute. This technique seems to be used by lots of people as I've watched so many items hovering around a couple of hundred for several days, then shoot up to £700-£1000 in the last 60 seconds.

I think you can look at bidding history for sellers items and see bid retractions so obviously even if he gets different people to do it there will still be a record - and eBay will watch for this as well

Bidding at the last minute is pretty common - especially with the snipe tools available - but a lot of people put down markers and also bid in case the forget (we've all done that!)

eBay can be manipulated for sure - but at the end of the day, like any auction, if you bid knowing your maximum then you will either win or lose but will never over pay

 

[lejackal]

So I've (I believe) just experienced this first hand. I placed a bid with 23 minutes to go, no other bids placed. Then I get outbid, nothing unusual. Then there is another bid, again nothing unusual. Then the first and highest bid is retracted, and shortly after so is the second making me the winning bidder again then a third bid is placed the exact same as my highest.
Suspicious? The first bidder to retract a bid had 89% with the seller and the one to make sure I paid my max has 100% bid history so I think so.
My question is should I pay him. I was obviously happy with the bid I placed until I feel I am being stitched up.

Any thoughts or advice most welcome

 

[itfciain]

So I've (I believe) just experienced this first hand. I placed a bid with 23 minutes to go, no other bids placed. Then I get outbid, nothing unusual. Then there is another bid, again nothing unusual. Then the first and highest bid is retracted, and shortly after so is the second making me the winning bidder again then a third bid is placed the exact same as my highest.
Suspicious? The first bidder to retract a bid had 89% with the seller and the one to make sure I paid my max has 100% bid history so I think so.
My question is should I pay him. I was obviously happy with the bid I placed until I feel I am being stitched up.

Any thoughts or advice most welcome

Sounds suspicious - I actually though you couldn't retract bids with less than 24 hours to go? - either way, if you think you have been stitched up then you could contact eBay - they would be able to look at both bidder and seller's history/profiles in more detail

 

[lejackal]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301758510846?_trksid=p2057872.m2748.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

This is the item, and don't get me wrong I've only been bumped by a couple of quid but its more the principle of the thing

 

[itfciain]

Looking at the item - and the listing, I wonder if this has been resealed (and the reason for the retraction)

The bidders listing says that the box and figure are original which could be a clever way of describing it

As for the under bidder - he has only bid on 4 items (3 with the same seller) so the percentage with the seller looks a lot worse

 

[lejackal]

I noticed the description but he had a couple of reseals and they were described as such. I'd still be protected anyhow I guess and it seems a reasonable price assuming original seal even with the crease.