Is there an eBay scam to make me pay more?
Asked by
Poser (
7808
)
January 20th, 2008
I recently bid on about five items on eBay. I was watching several different auctions for the same type of item, and bidding on them one at a time during the last several minutes of each auction. Each time, I was outbid, which was fine, since I wasn’t in dire need of the item, and was just looking for a good deal.
Shortly after the end of each of these auctions (and after I’d won and purchased the item I was seeking), I received emails from the sellers of the items I didn’t win, telling me to make them an offer. It happened for every item I didn’t win.
Is it possible that these sellers set up fake eBay profiles to bid on their own items and artificially jack up the price so they can offer them to me after the auction is over? Or am I just paranoid?
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11 Answers
Everything is possible. Frankly I don’t trust ebay anymore.
maybe the seller had more than one…
But, absolutely there are sellers that set up ghost accounts to raise the prices. eBay knows this but all they care about is collecting their ridiculously high fees.
and to piggyback on vanguardian’s point the higher the end price the higher the fees right? I have long since resorted to buy it now or better yet craigslist on local purchases…getting ridiculous
I agree completely with Perchik (Everything is possible. Frankly I don’t trust ebay anymore). This AM a news story about a Craig’s list scam where someone lost a pretty large sum of money. Like the dude interested in scaming his insurance company, crooks are everywhere!
yes indeed I just experienced a potential scam in the apartment rental listings-tthey wanted me to email an application for rent to new zealand before proceeding with even a viewing appointment to go see the property-shady!
I think it’s within your rights as an ebayer to report suspicious or otherwise disingenuous conduct from sellers in any event;
I think that this kind of conduct where price is renegotiated after the auction has ended is specifically defined in the end user agreement as potential abuse. I’d look it up as a suggestion to you, but I can’t clarify it just yet.
I have had it happen where in one instance the seller contacted me and informed me that some added “required” insurance was required in order to ship the product (some exorbitant amount). If instincts tell you something’s amiss, I’d suggest reporting it.
Thanks. I guess I’ll do that.
@poser good luck with that and you should bring up that idea about the fake users-it definitely seems plausible.
@ Poser: Just adding my two cents, a similar thing has happened to me a couple of times on ebay, and I wondered the same thing as you… I just declined the offers in the emails.
Yes, I don’t trust eBay anymore either.
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