eBay scam or what?
Asked by
Cardinal (
2931
)
January 22nd, 2008
Yesterday I bid on an item on eBay. It was a reasonable price for the item of interest. There was one oher bidder, but was it still a little low for what it was. There are 2 days to go and this morning I received an email from the seller:
(Dear eBay Member ,
I have for sale: Item title: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=15020690, My price is negociable. If you are interested just give me a fast reply on this email address and you will find all the info that you want. Thank You For your Time i will support all the shipping and insurance taxes,i hope to hear from you soon.
Contact me any time in my email adress: johnsmithseller@gmail.com).
I know something is wrong here. Should I report him/her to eBay or just refuse to pay if I win to avoid being gyped and chance getting a bad mark on my history? I do not want a stolen item in my possession!
Thank you.
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7 Answers
Speaking only as a very occasional eBay seller/buyer…
eBay offers the seller the ability to make “2nd chance offers” to folks who bid on an item, but were then later outbid.
In my experience, the ability to make a “2nd chance offer” is usually after the auction is closed… but I can see where it would be possible as soon as someone has been outbid.
In any case, it’s good to be wary… but based on the strength of your description, I don’t see anything suspect… and certainly nothing to indicate stolen goods.
Remember, just because dude is selling one item in an auction, it doesn’t necessarily mean he doesn’t have several others to sell as well.
Be sure to check out the seller’s positive/negative ranking… and look at the comments left about them!
After I asked the question to which Perchik links, I did a little research. Turns out, shill bidding is a scam that eBay is aware of. I don’t know if your situation would constitute, but when I bid on several iPods, I got several “second chance offers” from every seller of the iPods I didn’t win (and even some from the seller of the one I eventually did win, for others he was selling that I didn’t win). It made me very suspicious, as most of the emails said the winner of the items were unable to pay or were otherwise disqualified, and it happened for every iPod I bid on. Especially since I received several emails for each one I didn’t win.
I posted a complaint with eBay, but I haven’t heard back from them yet. I (perhaps stupidly) also sent a response to the seller of the iPod I did win that I had reported him for shill bidding. I hope I get my iPod.
This listing (15020690) has been removed or is no longer available. Please make sure you entered the right item number. If the listing was removed by eBay, consider it canceled. Note: Listings that have ended more than 90 days ago will no longer appear on eBay
i have been on ebay for 8 years. there is not much i dont know about it. and people get emails like this all the time. always ignore/report them. i dont recommend ever do off ebay transactions (although people do it ALL THE TIME dont be fooled otherwise when ebay CLAIMS it does not happen).
I am confused did you BID on that actual item number or ANOTHER item of theirs.
most people however do not bother reporting it. and they generally email you NOT on the official ebay system. sometimes they get out of hand or direct you to OTHER non ebay links. NEVER click on those!
and for me it is NEVER worth getting a NEG on your profile just to STICK it to a seller. and i dont buy all the arguments given to me WHY. i would only neg a seller if they really deserved it AND they had already given me a positive he he.
eBay introduces absolute anonymity for (shill) bidders
In Australia and the UK (at the least) eBay has now obscured auction bidding to the point that genuine bidders have got absolutely no chance of detecting and thereby protecting themselves from “shill” bidding (a criminal offence in most civilised countries) by unethical vendors. Notwithstanding eBay’s statements to the contrary, this application of absolute anonymity by eBay serves no purpose other than to deceive consumers; and the same criticism has always applied to eBay’s other facility, “User ID kept private” (aka “the shill bidders’ stairway to paradise”). Again, notwithstanding eBay’s various pronouncements about shill bidding being banned on eBay, eBay is now knowingly “aiding and abetting” such shill bidders, at the expense of consumers…
The full detailed version of the above comment at:
http://www.auctionbytes.com/forum/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=6498345#6498345
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