How do I report suspected shill bidding?

[89.000000]

A seller listed a dvd boxset which I offered to pay $65 if it was changed to a fixed price format. I also bid on the item with $65. After that a new buyer with a rating of 0 has bid $60, minutes after my bid. It seemed suspicious since I've never had something happen like that before with someone approaching the price of my own bid so quickly.

I looked at the other products the seller had and found that a different buyer had bid on every single item except the first one I bid on. Both bidders that I suspect are fake have this little icon. One has zero feedback score, and the other is marked as (private).

Does this happen often? Am I right to be suspicious? Am I wasting my time with this seller?

[phorum_junkie*]

Really bad form to ask a seller if they will sell for a fixeed price, even more so if you made a bid for the same amount. It is very hard, even for experienced members, to tell if shill bidding is taking place or not and any seller serious about doing it will be employing tactics that make it impossible for ebay to prove it and unless the seller and bidder have somthing in common su8ch as phone number, address, name or ip address ebay will do nothing.

If you think the item is worth $65 then probably a lot of other people will as well and if you don't want to bid any more on this seller's items the same thing will be available from another seller.

If you want to avoid the possibility of shilling you should snipe bid in the dying seconds of the auction.

[chameleon54]

There are several things which give a hint of shill bidding. If you click on the bidder, their 30 day bidding history will show. If they have a large % of bids with the same seller ( sometimes 100 % ) over a number of different types of items, this can be an indication. ( they may also like similar items the seller has and want to combine post so could be completly innocent ) . If you go to the sellers feedback and see the same bidder has been runner up on a number of sold items, this can be a hint ( also could be co-incidence ) . If the suss bidder has made a number of small nibble bids and then stops just before yours, this could be a hint. If the suss bidder has won the occasional item and the seller relists a similar item for sale it can be an indication. ( check feedback again )   If the suss bidder has a number of bid retractions, this can be a hint. None of these suggestions are conclusive proof on their own, but if a combination of these occur in a consistant pattern it can give an indication of shill bidding.

[89.000000]

To be honest I think it's worth more. My experience in the past with asking and being asked is that I say a low price, they say a high price, we negotiate to pretty much the middle and then make a sale.

Why do you say it's bad form to ask?

[89.000000]

Well the one with their history marked as private does have 24 retractions although hundreds of bids. 6% going to this seller which comes to about 40 items.

[chameleon54]

Twenty four bid retractions is a lot even spread over hundreds of bids, but they may be a person that changes their mind about buying the items and retracts. Six % or fourty items is a few but not extreme. From your info. it probebly looks slightly suss but certianly not conclusive. You say the item is currently below value. Some sellers start their auctions low to attract attention then use shill bidding to push the price up. ( Major breach of ebays policies, unfair to buyers and definataly not reccommended ) You really have two choices. If you want the item, wait untill the last minute of auction and put in your best offer. This will make it more difficult for the potential shill bidder. If it concerns you ( and yes it annoys me when it happens )  move on and buy from some-one else, noting the suspicous seller and dont trade with them again. You could also report your concerns to ebay trust & safety..

[chameleon54]

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@89.000000 wrote:
To be honest I think it's worth more. My experience in the past with asking and being asked is that I say a low price, they say a high price, we negotiate to pretty much the middle and then make a sale.

Why do you say it's bad form to ask?

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Please dont take this personally, but if I get low offers on my items ( none of which have best offer option ) it annoys the * bleep *  out of me. Although I send a polite response thanking them for their interest, I really want to write something completely different. If an offer is half resonable I may accept or put up a counter offer, but only if sales are slow. ( as I dont have best offer on listings )  Putting in very low offers may be counter productive as it may get the seller offside and digging their toes in, unwilling to accept any later more reasonable offers you may put in.

[davewil1964]

Not forgetting that it is against eBay policy to make offers on live listings where 'Make An Offer' is not an available option.

As it isn't on ANY auction. So OP is breaching policy for starters. The reason sellers list at auction, normally, is to maximise their return, not to cut deals.

[phorum_junkie*]

Not forgetting that it is against eBay policy to make offers on live listings where 'Make An Offer' is not an available option.

Well for once I was trying to be diplomatic saying it was bad form LOL. Reaching to retrieve harsh hat out of bin.

[davewil1964]

I tend not to do diplomatic, pj. Truth usually works better.