Ebay as the shill bidder

[SMPEP]

My options are - pass on the item (and it gets offered to the guy below me for $330) or accept the $410 offer.

If I want the item, I have no other option but to pay $410.

Even though in a fair auction I get it at $335.

[vintagerookies51]

"eBay makes me pay $410 for the item."

No they don't, they give you the unfair option to. Not anything illegal

[SMPEP]

If I want the item, how do their actions differ from shill bidding?

[SMPEP]

And yes, I considered passing on the offer for this very reason. But the seller didn't do anything wrong. They didn't set the price. Ebay did. And Ebay set a price that is in essence the same as the shill bid price. Not the price of a fair auction.

They CHOOSE to do something that is illegal. Neither the seller nor I had a choice to decide the price.

[D. Bergin]

You could have just declined the offer and asked the seller to put it up for bid again, and that you would be involved in the bidding, but are uncomfortable with the bid price as it is set right now.

If it was just between you and the other guy up at $410, there's no guarantee there wouldn't have been somebody in there between $330 and $410 that were blocked out by the higher bidding, or had a lower snipe rejected.

[bobbyw8469]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

You could have just declined the offer and asked the seller to put it up for bid again, and that you would be involved in the bidding, but are uncomfortable with the bid price as it is set right now.

If it was just between you and the other guy up at $410, there's no guarantee there wouldn't have been somebody in there between $330 and $410 that were blocked out by the higher bidding, or had a lower snipe rejected.

+1. Exactly. Just because there was a non paying bidder doesn't mean you would have automatically won it at your bid. Even though the winning bidder never paid, there is a good chance that it will hit $400 again on the relist.

[Peter_Spaeth]

If you were willing to pay 410 and now can get it for 410 I really don't see your problem. As Bobby said, there is no way to know how the bidding would have gone absent the high bidder.

[SMPEP]

So wait ... let me get this straight ...

Everyone on this board condemns shill bidding (with the exception of about 3 people who get roundly attacked in every debate on the topic). You all say it's bad if someone (who does not know your max bid) places bids with the intentional purpose of making you pay more. (Even though the shill bidder may never guess your highest price).

BUT you all think it's okay that Ebay (who knows your highest price to the penny) gives you an option to buy the item at the equivalent of the shill bid price - instead of at price you would have won the auction at the very first time. (The potential other snipes between $330 and $410 argument is weak as I have a last second snipe set - they would have already been in by that point. That's a red herring. And what about if there were no other snipes? You assume there are but that's not the case for a lot, if not the vast majority, of items.)

And to be clear, the point I'm making - which seems lost on people in the thread - is NOT whether I should have accepted the offer or not. Or the price paid for the item. Those are both irrelevant.

The point is - Ebay is acting exactly as a shill bidder does. Their Second Chance operating practice has EXACTLY the same effect as being shill bid against. You are forced to pay your maximum price by having fictitious bids placed against you. Everyone condemns shill bidding by individuals. But as long as Ebay gives you an option - you think it's okay that they shill bid in the Second Chance offer because you can always decline and try to win the fair auction a second time ... after the "fair" auction you already won had nonpaying bidders that prevented you from winning it at the fair price the first time.

Wow.

[pawpawdiv9]

Simply, if the seller has it re-listed, and you place the 355 in hopes you win it this time at that price.

[bobbyw8469]

Originally Posted by SMPEP

My options are - pass on the item (and it gets offered to the guy below me for $330) or accept the $410 offer.

If I want the item, I have no other option but to pay $410.

Even though in a fair auction I get it at $335.

Maybe..maybe not....there might have been some snipes at $380-400, that failed to go off just because of what the auction was at. Non paying bidders ruin it for everyone.