damian 0 Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 In ebay, if a seller contacts me 5 day before the auction is up and asks if I want to buy the goods today, is he trying to scam me? I am the highest bidder so either: a) I get out-bid and the seller earns more I stay at the top and pay the amount that he is willing to sell them for today. He loses if I buy the today as he still has 5 days for me to be out bid?? Also, can a seller set up a dummy bidding account to push his price up? This is the first time I have ever looked at ebay, let alone bid. Link to post Share on other sites
spook 0 Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 out of interest, what are you buying? words of warning (which you probably already know, but then again maybe you don't) - make sure there is a fixed postage price listed on the item, so they can't sting you after you've won with some grossly inflated postage costs. also check the seller feedback rating before bidding. the seller contacting you early seems kinda strange, i've never heard of it before. the little paranoid man inside me is teklling me its a scam, but i can't really work out what his angle is? Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 I made about 700 transactions on ebay and i can tell you that its not good practice to boost your own items by bidding on them with a fake account, for two reasons: 1 - you might win the item. if that happens, you will have to pay fees on the item and have no buyer. 2 - its very hard to make a fake account and get away with it. I hate Paypal and I urge everyone to avoid using them, they really take the piss out of their customers. As to whether this guy is lying or not, I suggest you just ask him directly and see what he says. He might have to go on holiday or something and need to sort stuff out quickly. Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 Quote: Originally posted by Dear Britain: Also, can a seller set up a dummy bidding account to push his price up? I have done this before Works well. Not really honest though. But I have bought and sold many things on ebay. Nothing in the last 3 years though. It is usually a pretty honest system. Link to post Share on other sites
sunrise 0 Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 Depending on the item and the price I wouldn't go for it. They know it's illegal and any seller who's worth their salt would never contact a bidder in hopes of selling. Why should they? They have more to win from further bids as the auction progresses. You have no protection if you go ahead and purchase under the table. If it's not an expensive item and you are willing to take the risk, then go ahead. But you have to be very aware that by taking the risk you could get screwed. There are many many scams up there. I may have been hit for one myself. I bought a "totally legal Photoshop CS upgrade from 5.5" - where I was supposed to get the 5.5 software, the full CS package with an upgrade serial number, and when I received it, the full CS package arrived, no 5.5 software, but there was a transfer document - transferring the 5.5 software to me (which has to be sent or faxed to Adobe). All filled out except the guy neglected to sign it. I wrote to him, he apologised and said he'd send out another one immediately. He's a power seller with 99% positive feedback. I'd never buy from anyone who's not a power seller. Anyway, after 2 1/2 weeks nothing, so I emailed him a week ago asking him to fax it to me instead and haven't heard back. I'm about to email him again and then if he doesn't reply I'll phone him, and basically if I still don't get the 'legal' document making it legal for me to register the product I'll follow the ebay fraud thingies - you have to get a third party to contact the seller to try and sort out the issue and if that's no good take it further. But I'll also contact Adobe if that's the case. They might also take action on the guy if necessary. Or course I've opened the software package, so I can't just send it back. Haven't installed it yet (for some reason I already have it on my computer....). I wanted to buy it and be a legal owner because it's saved my butt on a commercial project so I felt it was a fair thing to do. The guy might just be really flakey, but it currently smells pretty fishy to me. Many pro scammers up on eBay. Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 I have set up dummy accounts but on Yahoo.jp you have to pay the tax if you sell something. So if you accidentally win it on a fake account, the seller ( you) must pay for the 3% tax. Good if you pull it off! Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted December 4, 2004 Author Share Posted December 4, 2004 Thanks for everyones thoughts. Quote: Originally posted by spook: out of interest, what are you buying? Hey dude, I'm buying two very old and cheap avvy beacons that I will use for simulated multi-person burial searches with my new beacon. I don't have any snow to practice in, but long grass will be better than nothing. Link to post Share on other sites
DumbStick 13 Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 "I made about 700 transactions on ebay" Incredible, you must spend all your time on it. What kind of things you selling/buying? I've never even looked at the thing. Link to post Share on other sites
xxx 2 Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 Lunch with Nirvana star http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=16071&item=2289137864&rd=1 Some weird things on there. Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 i was a seller while I was in Japan. Exchange rate kept getting worse and worse (as soon as I left Japan it bounced back up though ) so I had to find a way to get my money sent home profitably. I have only bought about 10 things on ebay in my life though. But I just bought a professional coffee machine last night, half the price of in the shops. it makes proper lattes with espresso and frothy crema milk, it even has a cup warmer :-) my mate has one and he says it makes better coffee than starbucks, nero etc. Link to post Share on other sites
fruitysue 0 Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 Talking of coffee makers, just bought this one http://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000DEL3J/qid%3D1102162717/249-1339237-8222768 (at less than half that price, you understand). Fantastic is it. Link to post Share on other sites
concrete-bagel 0 Posted December 6, 2004 Share Posted December 6, 2004 sue - got the very same machine, it is excellent. Weekends are great. Link to post Share on other sites
joshnii 2 Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Mmmmmm. Coffee machine. Want..... Link to post Share on other sites
microsnot 0 Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Dear Britain: Tell the seller that you'll buy it if he makes it a private auction on eBay. This way you'll still have the eBay fraud protection thingy. I'm guessing the seller wants to sell it without paying his eBay fees so he contacted you...Still sounds a little dodgy. What's the seller's feedback on eBay? If it's low then read through them just to make sure that they are legit. Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 the fact that paypal protects you is a fallacy, there are loads of loopholes and in fact if you get ripped off, even if you are using ebay and paypal, you are unlikely to get your money back. Problem is paypal is very convenient and fast, unlike the money order system. www.paypalsucks.com Link to post Share on other sites
spook 0 Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 a different ebay scam i read elsewhere - similiar to the ones where they fish for your bank details: http://forum.realsurf.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2681 Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 I only just found this out, but on Ebay, if someone can come in with a bid in the last five seconds, the auction will not be extended and the previous highest bidder has no chance to respond. On Yahoo (Japan) Auctions, there is an automatic five minute extension for others to respond when a new winning bid comes in at the death. This strikes me as one of those little things that show bigger cultural differences. Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Quote: Originally posted by Mr Wiggles: I only just found this out, but on Ebay, if someone can come in with a bid in the last five seconds, the auction will not be extended and the previous highest bidder has no chance to respond. On Yahoo (Japan) Auctions, there is an automatic five minute extension for others to respond when a new winning bid comes in at the death. This strikes me as one of those little things that show bigger cultural differences. that extension is an option that you decide to use or not to use. It works best if you have no limit, but if the person is selling for a set price ( online shop etc) then they don't use it much. I have had auctions extend for almost up to an hour because of that option. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Everything I've bid for so far on Yahoo has had the extension, but maybe I was just lucky. I seem to remember reading bidding guides that didn't mention extensions. I just checked the bidding log for ebay and the winning bid for the auction I was in for came in with eight seconds to go! I hit refresh with fifteen to go and was okay and then when I hit again it came up "finished-new winner". I was like "You wha!". Admittedly I went in myself on a bit of a whim with seven minutes left and so it wasn't like I'd been watching the thing for days, but eight seconds, that is phreakin brutal! Think of the Brits back home on dialup! If buying by auction requires that much attention, I think I'll give it a miss. Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Well the answer is just to enter the highest price you are willing to pay. So say you bid £50, it will only make the bid at £1 above the current highest bid (e.g. £21). If someone outbids you, it automatically rebids until it reaches your highest bid (£50). This way you avoid getting 'sniped' unless someone actually bids above your highest bid of £50. Another way is to use a sniping program, quite a few of my buyers used them which I wasnt so happy about. This kind of program can connect directly to ebay and bid at the last possible moment. I dont know if these still exist or not. I have won quite a few auctions just by guessing what someone else highest bid would be (usually a round number like £50) and then bidding 1p more (£50.01p) at the last moment. Somehow the thought of the other person noticing that they got beat at the last second by a penny is quite amusing to me :-) Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Wiggles, I forgot to mention that the 5 minute extension option is one that the SELLER decides when they put the item they have up for sale. Most sellers will choose this option as it will likely increase their price, but if you look closely at shops that are selling on the auctions for a set price and sometimes having a number of the products then they will not use this option. That may explain why you have/have not come across this in your bidding. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Thanks for the advice people. I suppose with the ebay system you set your highest price plus the grey area above it where you don't want to lose by a few pennies. You'll only have to pay a price in the grey area if there are other bids. Only trouble is if you've got another grey area above your grey area A quick google suggests there are still sniping services out there. Link to post Share on other sites
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