I just don't like ebay anymore...

[Bryan]

I placed an early bid on something, and the next morning noticed that a 2nd bidder had inched it up until they exceeded my bid. I always go look for signs of shilling, but it's next to impossible anymore. The items the 2nd bidder is bidding on look similar to the items the seller is selling, but THANKS EBAY for taking away all methods of matching to two up. The 2nd bidder is an old user with hundreds of feedback, but the seller is new with 9. Usually you expect to see this the other way around.... I don't think I'll bid on this again.

 

I pretty much stick to BuyItNow items now.

[Brad2600]

You can't sell anything on EPay for a fair price anymore. I sold 3 sets of Hot Wheels cars and took a HUGE loss on them because they're not even mine (I sold them for my brother) and also because he spent years building up complete sets. I feel bad about it as he really needs the money.

[RegalSin]

So what if somebody is raising the bid on the behalf of somebody else. Nobody cares this is how auction prices are raised in real life. In fact the best sellers do this all the time. It is a common thing to do to get what you want for your money.

 

Also Ebay jacked up the prices recently on listing and sends cheap offers just to make you sell.

[Brad2600]

Cost me about $12.50 in fees to sell several lots of Hot Wheels. Ridiculous.

 

It's too bad that there aren't any viable alternatives to EPay that actually work.

[jetset]

Ya. There's way too many bad sellers anymore, and buyers seem to be shying away. I keep an eye open but rarely buy from ebay anymore. Too many shill bidders, shipping gougers, feedback blackmailers, and just overall crap to feel safe. Too many buyers don't know what to look out for. I used to always tell my family and friends when they were looking for something to check Ebay, but some that did got burned on one thing or another by a buyer and now won't go near Ebay. Its a shame really...Ebay was much nicer before the profiteers really took over.

 

So what if somebody is raising the bid on the behalf of somebody else. Nobody cares this is how auction prices are raised in real life. In fact the best sellers do this all the time. It is a common thing to do to get what you want for your money.

 

Also Ebay jacked up the prices recently on listing and sends cheap offers just to make you sell.

 

Like I said. Too many crooks. Look up Ebay's TOS. Shill bidding is not allowed in any form. And remember, Ebay is NOTNOTNOTNOT a real auction by any means.

Ebay likely jacked up thier fees for the same reason they always do. Lost revenue. Guess why that happened???

Edited July 24, 2007 by jetset

[Bryan]

Ya. There's way too many bad sellers anymore, and buyers seem to be shying away. I keep an eye open but rarely buy from ebay anymore. Too many shill bidders, shipping gougers, feedback blackmailers, and just overall crap to feel safe. Too many buyers don't know what to look out for. I used to always tell my family and friends when they were looking for something to check Ebay, but some that did got burned on one thing or another by a buyer and now won't go near Ebay. Its a shame really...Ebay was much nicer before the profiteers really took over.

 

I just noticed that the 2nd bidder also has retracted 11 bids in the past 6 months. There's no legitimate reason for that.

[Bryan]

So what if somebody is raising the bid on the behalf of somebody else. Nobody cares this is how auction prices are raised in real life. In fact the best sellers do this all the time. It is a common thing to do to get what you want for your money.

 

Also Ebay jacked up the prices recently on listing and sends cheap offers just to make you sell.

 

This is how you use your first post? To say deceptively manipulating your auction is cool?

[homerwannabee]

Strange even though they are basically a monopoly now, they are probably the weakest they have been in a very long time. I have noticed that over the summer time they have offered some kind of deal to sellers on a weekly basis. But what ebay does not realize is that sellers will not sell if they keep losing money of stuff they sell. I think a big time problem is that snipers have destroyed the system. Ebay really needs to think about having an extended auction after the last persons bid.

[horseboy]

I never really understood why many people feel that way about ebay. I have been collecting since just before ebay opened up shop, and the more people that go to ebay, the easier it is to find stuff I want. I like Ebay.

 

Just bid the maximum that you are willing to pay for an item and you should be fine. That way you will never pay more than you want to. If you win, great. If not, whatever.

 

Shill bidding does really suck, but I don't think it is as prevalent as other people do.

[Trade-N-Games]

This is why I am working so hard on my web store. www.tradengames.com I try to have good prices and fast service and a good selection and I get tons of repeate business and my buyers have nothing to worry about unlike Ebay.

[Albert]

Strange even though they are basically a monopoly now, they are probably the weakest they have been in a very long time. I have noticed that over the summer time they have offered some kind of deal to sellers on a weekly basis. But what ebay does not realize is that sellers will not sell if they keep losing money of stuff they sell. I think a big time problem is that snipers have destroyed the system. Ebay really needs to think about having an extended auction after the last persons bid.

What exactly is wrong with sniping?

 

..Al

[Tursi]

I recently sold a batch of stuff on EBay after a couple of years just buying, and IMO the selling experience has gone way downhill. They charged a small fortune for the listings, and so many people use sniper scripts now that there's no real auction anymore, at least not for the stuff I sold.

 

Might as well just sell through Amazon's store, at that rate. I dunno. I still need to figure out how to get rid of the rest of my unused stuff.

[horseboy]

Strange even though they are basically a monopoly now, they are probably the weakest they have been in a very long time. I have noticed that over the summer time they have offered some kind of deal to sellers on a weekly basis. But what ebay does not realize is that sellers will not sell if they keep losing money of stuff they sell. I think a big time problem is that snipers have destroyed the system. Ebay really needs to think about having an extended auction after the last persons bid.

What exactly is wrong with sniping?

 

..Al

 

 

Nothing. I love it.

[Bryan]

Strange even though they are basically a monopoly now, they are probably the weakest they have been in a very long time. I have noticed that over the summer time they have offered some kind of deal to sellers on a weekly basis. But what ebay does not realize is that sellers will not sell if they keep losing money of stuff they sell. I think a big time problem is that snipers have destroyed the system. Ebay really needs to think about having an extended auction after the last persons bid.

What exactly is wrong with sniping?

 

..Al

 

 

Nothing. I love it.

Yeah, sniping doesn't bug me. As far as I'm concerned the auction doesn't really start until the last 5 minutes.

 

-Bry

[homerwannabee]

Strange even though they are basically a monopoly now, they are probably the weakest they have been in a very long time. I have noticed that over the summer time they have offered some kind of deal to sellers on a weekly basis. But what ebay does not realize is that sellers will not sell if they keep losing money of stuff they sell. I think a big time problem is that snipers have destroyed the system. Ebay really needs to think about having an extended auction after the last persons bid.

What exactly is wrong with sniping?

 

..Al

The ability to respond as a buyer. Ebay is not a true auction house. It has become a blind bid type auction. If this type of auction was so succesful than live auction houses would of all of been done with a blind bid. Most live auction houses that I know of use a response system when auctioning items off. I think Ebay has used their system because the technology probably was not available at the time they started.

[Artlover]

All I'm reading are the same two gripes...

 

Sellers not getting as much as they wanted, and buyers not getting something they wanted.

 

 

Hey, sellers, set a reserve price then. Not the buyer's fault you wanted/expected more.

 

Hey, buyers, just because you want something doesn't automaticly entitle you to have it. If you're not willing to pay what it costs or take the time to monitor the auction, that's your problem.

 

 

Sour grapes is what it all is.

[accousticguitar]

There is at least one other gripe. Listing fees are way too high. I rarely sell anything on ebay anymore.

[scooby105]

There is at least one other gripe. Listing fees are way too high. I rarely sell anything on ebay anymore.

 

 

They're a bit high, but if you're listing anything that has a wide audience, just list it at 99 cents to start. The fees are cheap enough then. It's what I do with most of my stuff. The bidding makes it up high anyways.

[RegalSin]

But it cost more to reserve the price. How will we know if somebody is going to buy the item?

[gospeedde]

As a buyer, I can say that I've never been upset with Ebay because I was outbid on an item I wanted. (I HAVE cursed the name of a few buyers, though.)

 

However, I am more and more reluctant to buy things on Ebay because I'm afraid I'm just going to lose my money. Knowing that there is absolutely no recourse if the seller just walks away with my money, I have passed up eight auctions in the last month because I wasn't sure the auction was legit. I'm probably a bit paranoid, but that's how I feel.

[Artlover]

But it cost more to reserve the price. How will we know if somebody is going to buy the item?

You don't, and your point is?

 

There is no oblogation by anyone to buy what you're selling just because you want to sell it.

[Bryan]

All I'm reading are the same two gripes...

 

Sellers not getting as much as they wanted, and buyers not getting something they wanted.

 

That, plus my original gripe: Putting in a bid and having the seller investigate that bid by bumping up the selling price his/herself. No wonder everyone snipes.

 

-Bry

[Artlover]

Putting in a bid and having the seller investigate that bid by bumping up the selling price his/herself. No wonder everyone snipes.

While I don't deny this is basicly shady, in effect bidding on your own auction, I tend to look at a bigger reality of that.

 

As a potential buyer, you likely set a limit for yourself. You're going to be willing to spend upto $xx.xx amount in an auction you are interested in. If the auction passes that, you'll stop bidding. If someone out bids you, but it's still less then your limit, you'll bid again, and keep doing so till your limit is reached. if you win you win, if you don't you don't.

 

 

If you're willing to spend $xx.xx, and you end up winning at $xx.xx, what is the real problem? Does it matter that the seller was secretly bidding against you and not an actual interested 3rd party? You still got it at a price you were willing to pay. The issue seems to be more about not getting that "steal of the century" by getting it for less then you would have been willing to spend.

 

Now, let's say you didn't win the bid. What harm has been done? In this case, likely the sellers alterego get stuck with the winning bid which translate into them being stuck with listing and transaction fees for their own property. Or do simple mutual agreement to not complete the transaction. Either way, you didn't lose anything. Hopefully, next time they list it, the buyer's alterego/friend/partner won't bump it so high. Maybe they will retract their bids and you end up the secondary winner, see above.

 

Again, I understand the lack of morality in the practice, but I still find it hard to dismiss in as much as the buyer is under no oblogation to bid, continue to bid, or bid more then they want to spend.

[Bryan]

If you're willing to spend $xx.xx, and you end up winning at $xx.xx, what is the real problem? Does it matter that the seller was secretly bidding against you and not an actual interested 3rd party? You still got it at a price you were willing to pay. The issue seems to be more about not getting that "steal of the century" by getting it for less then you would have been willing to spend.

 

Umm... I'm surprised this discussion is even taking place.

 

Let's say I go into a car dealership and I'm able to pay up to $18K for a car, but I'd really like to get something in the $14-16K region. The salesman leaves the room to allow my wife and I to talk, but secretly spies on us and finds out how much I have available and then uses that information against me in the negotiation.

 

Is it okay if I end up spending more for the car because it was within my original budget, or did the salesman do something completely unethical to get more money out of me?

 

There's only one solution- snipe what you're willing to pay and give no one time to play games.

[Artlover]

Is it okay if I end up spending more for the car because it was within my original budget, or did the salesman do something completely unethical to get more money out of me?

All I'm saying is that it's hard to argue when in the end you only spent as much as you were willing to spend. But to answer your question, yes, it is unethical, never said it wasn't. Of course, your car dealer example was bad because they are all unethical anyways as it is and you can rest assured you are getting ripped off one way or another even when you think you aren't.

 

There's only one solution- snipe what you're willing to pay and give no one time to play games.

There you go, that works. But then, a simmilar shoe is on another foot, because you know a lot of people think sniping is wrong.

 

The problem with ebay is that it's full of people that don't get it, and have a preconcieved notion of how things should be purely to accomodate them and their interests. Ebay policy and ethics be damned. It's why I don't ebay at all. Only ebaying I've ever done has been as a job function, and I did that as little as possible with great reluctance.