Did I get Shafted on E-Bay? (OT)

[dux]

Basically, there was an item currently at $25, and I put in a maximum bid of $60 (so it must have installed me as the highest bidder at $26). I go away, and come back after the auction is over (it finished at about 8pm) and $61 is the winning bid.

I have no beefs, because somebody kept upping the bid madly in the last hour of the auction till he's outdone me.

BUT - a day later this happens:
I get an official E-Bay e-mail saying that the winner couldn't pay, and I was being given the chance to buy the item for $60 (my highest bid). Now, if this prick who couldn't pay didn't put in the phony bids, I would possibly pay $26 for the item, and definitely below $60.

Is this possibly/probably/definitely a scam by the seller to make me pay the maximum I've set?

Here are the bids with the names changed (notice my bid was not second last, rather that was when I was outbid - I bid at 3:51 pm):
<font class="small">Code:</font><hr /><pre>
Bidder (rating) Bid Date And Time
=============================================
shafter? ( 0 ) $61.00 20-Oct-04 19:06:36
OUR HERO ( 3 ) $60.00 20-Oct-04 15:51:50
shafter? ( 0 ) $60.00 20-Oct-04 19:06:16
shafter? ( 0 ) $50.00 20-Oct-04 19:05:54
shafter? ( 0 ) $45.00 20-Oct-04 19:05:34
shafter? ( 0 ) $40.00 20-Oct-04 19:05:11
shafter? ( 0 ) $30.00 20-Oct-04 12:36:27
firstbidder ( 1 ) $25.00 14-Oct-04 11:11:34
shafter? ( 0 ) $25.00 20-Oct-04 12:36:19
somebody ( 137) $20.00 14-Oct-04 08:12:25
firstbidder ( 1 ) $20.00 14-Oct-04 11:11:23
firstbidder ( 1 ) $15.00 13-Oct-04 22:19:29
</pre><hr />

[TylerD]

It could be. To avoid this use www.auctionsniper.com (http://www.auctionsniper.com) to snipe the auction just before it ends.

[GrannyMae]

dux,

do NOT pay the $60 unless this an item you really want to have. this is definitely not any form of sniping based on the bid history, however there is a very good chance that the seller = shafter and upped the bids himself to test your proxy maximum. the zero feedback indicates this. then, when he went over your maximum, he had no way to retract in time, so he had to say that the highest bidder backed out.

this is a CLASSIC ebay scam, but most sellers are smart enough to NOT get greedy and blast through your proxy bid.

if you gotta have it, go ahead and pay the $60, but be aware that the seller may have been the one doing the false pumping. if this is the case, the seller may be a scammer so make sure to check feedback as well.

if it were me, i would make an offer of much less than $60 unless it was something i could not live without like an iron lung or a vibrator that cooks breakfast.

[zuluking]

[ QUOTE ]
unless it was something i could not live without like an iron lung or a vibrator that cooks breakfast.

[/ QUOTE ]

Now THAT is funny!

[dux]

He had (going off memory) more than one hour to retract the final bid, so it could have just been some idiot who had no idea he/she couldn't pay via the methods offered. That said, you would think discussions between seller and idiot would have taken longer than it took for the second chance e-mail to reach my inbox.

I don't think I'll buy the item or haggle with the seller -It's nothing important, and it'd have to be pretty important to wanna deal somebody I figured to be suss.

[Jeffro]

Ahh, but what about "The Accomodator".
http://www.rit.edu/~msd6123/Granny.JPG

EBay is the REAL zoo, compared to which other zoos only cast a pale shadow. There are really great sellers and I've gotten some great deals--and there are some losers that do things that really make you wonder: one guy sent me 2 right-foot boots with liners 4 inches longer than the boots they were supposed to fit into. He hemmed and hawed about reimbursing me for the return postage--then got all whiney and hurt when I gave him negative feedback . . .

All in all, I think EBay has more badbeats than poker; and I would not dream of shopping there now unless I wanted something that was absolutely not available anywhere else!

Half.com (EBay's book store), on the other hand, is great--you can buy almost any used book for pennies on the dollar, without the "auction" hassles. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[dux]

You know, I've never been satisfied by any e-bay purchase. My Kem cards were cracked and a birthday present didn't arrive till weeks after the birthday itself. Guess it's true that's the real zoo.

[GrannyMae]

He had (going off memory) more than one hour to retract the final bid

noooo

to retract a bid its gotta be greater than 12 hours before aution closes if i recall correctly (to avoid these exact situations). my guess is that the dumbass did not know this and planned on maxing your proxy then retracting.

[Action Scott]

Sounds like he was using another username to up your bid to your max and went too far to me. The good thing is, you're in no way obligated to purchase the item. As for the bad experiences you've had in the past, you need to pay close attention to the sellers feedbacks, not just the rating #. Just because someone has a score of 1000, doesn't mean they dont' have 1500 +'s and 500 -'s. I buy and sell on ebay all the time and have never had a problem. Like I said, check the feedback. Go read the feedbacks that have been left for the person. Hope this helps. Scott

[Spartacus]

Post the auction link. We'll find you the same item for much less than $60.

[nolanfan34]

I'm also in the camp that says don't buy it. The zero feedback is the key there, they probably wanted to pump up the final price.

I buy on there all the time, but I can see how people have bad experiences when they don't know what to watch out for. Feedback is really the key, not just someone's ratings, but the specific feedback left. Sometimes people leave positive feedback, but mention little tidbits that show they weren't completely happy with the purchase.

In the end, the best part about eBay is that generally, if you miss out on one auction, there will always be another one for the same item.

[Drunk Bob]

If the higest bid is $26 why did you bid $60?

This is not NLHE. /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[nolanfan34]

[ QUOTE ]
If the higest bid is $26 why did you bid $60?

This is not NLHE. /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Assuming you're asking this for real, I think the bidder felt that $60 was the maximum he wanted to pay for the item. That's what eBay recommends that you do, when you make a bid, so you don't get outbid at the last minute. Bidding your max early though leaves yourself open to tactics like this seller probably used, where they bid on their own item to test the threshhold of your bid.

It's a reason that you should always try to bid at the last minute if possible. You have the chance to get the item at the lowest price, and be the last bidder. Of course there have been times I've waited until the last 30 seconds, and still been outbid in the last 5.

[Drunk Bob]

Ive never placed a bid on E-Bay or any other auction.

But it makes sense to wait till the last minute.

[ParisJim]

Hi Dux, I have been a dealer on eBay since 1998 so maybe I can help you out here.

Two things seem very fishy here. 1)The bidder that finally outbid you has Zero feedback (always a bad sign) 2) You were informed that you were being given a second chance offer because the original buyer backed out.

Dealers may offer second chance offers if they either have identical extra items or if a bidder refuses to bid. The key here is, when did you get the second chance? It usually takes a dealer from 3 to 7 days to realize that he has a deadbeat bidder. If you received this offer immediately, the dealer is scamming you and should be reported to eBay.

Also use the search engine, search by bidder, and enter the winning bidder's ID. Has he received a negative from your dealer? Has he been a member for months but still has zero feedback? Does he live in the same city / state as the dealer (or does his location line state something vague like "The good ole USA" or "2000 miles from L.A."). In the search engine search for items the winning bidder has bid on for the last 30 days (enter his ID, check closed items for 30 days, and yes to "even if I am not the winner". If you see that all bids have been made on the same dealer's items, you have a scam on your hands.

Bottom line, if you refuse the second chance item (and you have every right to refuse, even if it is legit) you are allowed to bid on it again if the dealer relists.

Hope this helps.

Jim

[GrannyMae]

If you received this offer immediately, the dealer is scamming you and should be reported to eBay.

i really can't argue with anything you posted. in general it is dead on. however, i have had a situation as a seller where a panicked bidder needed to back out but it was too late to retract. he emailed me, so i knew when the auction closed that the high bid was a bad bid. i immediately sent the next highest bidder a second chance offer.

i don't think there was anything innocent here though. i think it was exactly as you say (scumbag seller). still, it needs to be noted that there are certain times that a second chance offer, or second chance email would be sent before the seller went through the normal process of realizing he has a deadbeat.

[jedi]

Have you contacted eBay's abuse department about this already? You said there was an "official" email from eBay offering you the item. Forward them the email and say that you'll pay $26 for it because that was the last valid bid that was placed.

[krazyace5]

Sounds like the seller is a scammer, he is the one that sends the email, and he should have clicked at the next highest legitimate bid not $60, I would not pay more than the next highest bid before the shill bidder bid up the price.

[dux]

The item isn't actually for me, my brother wants it but doesn't have an e-bay account. He still wanted the item even though I expressed doubts about the seller plus it's a poster - $60 for a poster? So I e-mailed asking for an offer and got a response today.

He said that he had multiples of the posters, and that the $61 was a genuine bid. I'll quote him on this:
"The weird thing is is that most people who buy posters from me are first time ebayers,so im used to people thinking that its me bidding on my own stuff.I couldnt believe the price that poster went for and yes the highest bidder was for real,i start most posters at $2 and sell them for whatever they go for."

He then suggested I don't try to do deals outside e-bay as that's where most scams take place. I figure I'll have to put in a bid if it comes up again.


If I was a bookmaker my book would read (Australian style odds here):

$1.65 Scam
$1.95 Not a Scam

But then again I'm very cynical.