Seller jacking up bid by phantom bids under another name

[kerry22grace]

Can this happen? is there a way that eBay can prevent this? I have just won an item that required me to keep bidding (i wanted the item and it was a good price) - but what I notice is that every time I put a bid in it was topped, this went on for days until a certain total was reached then all went quite? if in the last 5 minutes I expected a late bid but not response. I suspect that the bidding was coming from a source that had no intention of buying - just wanted to push the price hihg - Kerry

[mrslumberjack6667]

I've noticed this too recently, I was bidding on an agate pendant which normally only sold for $5 or so in the persons store (I'd watched several others like it) but after asking the seller if it was ok to wait a few days till the other auctions ended so i could pay at once I noticed my bids on the item were being topped repeatedly, the price was three times what I wanted to pay so I actually left it for the remaining few days and noticed it went no higher.

Makes you wonder...

[davewil1964]

If a buyer puts in their maximum bid initially, rather than nibble bidding like you did, then any time another bid comes in that is less than their maximum, their bid goes up to enough to beat the new bid. This will continue until their maximum is exceeded. Which seems to be the case here.

Rather than continually bidding, there are more sensible options.

1. Put in ONE bid, for the maximum you are prepared to pay. This bid is the maximum you will pay. If there are no or few other bids, you may well get the item cheaper.

2. Sit on the auction and put a bid in at the last second.

3. Similar to #2. Use a sniping program to put a bid in on your behalf at the last possible moment.

The common factor between these 3 options is to bid your MAXIMUM, then let the system determine whether or not you win, and at what price.

Given you say you were happy with the price, I really can't understand your complaint.

[lyndal1838]

Kerry, there was a bid of $490 placed on that item several hours before you started your nibble bidding.  You were the one forcing the price up, not the other bidder.

Just as $500 was your maximum bid, it was also the other bidders maximum and you only won the item because you placed your bid first.

[lyndal1838]

mrslumberjack, if the pendant was three time what you wanted to pay, why did you keep bidding?

Can you post the item title here so someone can have a look for you....not the item number, just the title.

[mrslumberjack6667]

I make a lot of jewelry, I particularly liked that pendant, if I wasn't going to make a necklace with it to sell it was going to be one to keep for myself, when I buy something because I really like it (not to sell) I don't mind spending extra, at one point I was winning with my bid too, it just got to a point afterwards that I decided I wasn't going to pay more than a certain amount, then that was topped too and went no higher afterwards.

"x0059 Gorgeous Facet Fire Druzy Geode Agate pendant bead stone"

[lyndal1838]

Nice pendant...quite unusual.

As with the OP, there is nothing suspicious in the bidding on that stone. You placed the first bid and the eventual winner placed a much higher bid. You later nibble bid until you outbid the eventual winner, who again entered a much higher bid. Again you nibble bid up to the limit you had decided on, but below the limit of the eventual winner.  There is no way of knowing what that limit was as you never reached it.

The aim of shill bidding is to force the price up, not to win the item.  To a casual observer it looks like you are shill bidding, not the eventual winner.

[mrslumberjack6667]

I thought the pendant was gorgeous, had bought nearly a half a dozen other items from the seller too and in my message expressed how much I liked this particular one, this is the only one I lost, which is what struck me as odd.

Still relatively new to eBay itself as well, not quite used to how the bidding works.

[best.buys]

if you click on the number of bids which is in brackets, it will take you to another page with more info on it. click on show automatic bids - check the dates, it may be that the first bidder placed a high bid at the start.

[lyndal1838]

gav.o the first bid was actually placed by mrslumberjack but the eventual winner then placed a quite high bid.

There is nothing at all suspicious about the bidding on that auction.