How Is This Possible On Ebay???????????

[theseeker]

I recently was the high bidder on an Ebay auction, with a winning bid of $83.63. Take a guess at what my maximum bid was? If you guessed $83.63, you are correct. And this is not the first time that I've won an auction on Ebay that ending up being my maximum bid (which is always a crazy, random max. bid amount that includes odd numbered dollars and cents.)

How is this possible? I do understand the simple concept behind shill bids but, unless Ebay is allowing bid retractions, just how are so many auctions ending at my exact maximum bid amount?

[bn2cardz]

When it happens to me it is because my amount was shy of the full bid increment needed to go to the next price over someone who has tried to outbid me.

For instance:
You bid $83.63 yesterday when the price was at $50
Someone bids today at $83

Your bid was put in first, so it takes precedence yet it doesn't have the $1 minimum bid increment built in to make it $84, yet you did have a max over the $83 bid, so the system just takes it to your max amount.


This is the biggest advantage of not sniping. People that snipe have no time to realize that if they would have just put in the next minimum bid they would have one.

[ibuysportsephemera]

What is also happening is that most people bid in round dollar increments. IMO it is smart to bid the way that you are bidding (this is how I bid) because for maybe as little as .13 cents you won the auction. For example the underbidder entered $83.50...your bid of $83.63 was higher so you won. One negative thing about bidding this way is that an experienced bidder will know your max because of the odd dollar amount, and know that their next bid will be enough to outbid you.

Jeff

[theseeker]

Originally Posted by ibuysportsephemera

What is also happening is that most people bid in round dollar increments. IMO it is smart to bid the way that you are bidding (this is how I bid) because for maybe as little as .13 cents you won the auction. For example the underbidder entered $83.50...your bid of $83.63 was higher so you won. One negative thing about bidding this way is that an experienced bidder will know your max because of the odd dollar amount, and know that their next bid will be enough to outbid you.

Jeff

Or an experienced (shill) bidder will know exactly what to bid up to in order to get maximum return. There is no doubt in my mind that this is taking place. In a closed bidding process my max. bid is $83.63 and along comes another bidder and happens to bid up to $83.50-- $.13 cents shy of my total. Unlikely coinsidence? I think not.

Besides, if an experienced bidder is the only one up against me, he doesn't benefit from this sort of precision-- he could go well beyond my max. bid and find, within a dollar, where I maxed out at and not have to pay a penny more. The seller, on the other hand, clearly can profit, if so inclined.

[steve B]

I don't know of any way to see someones max bid on Ebay.

Some stuff is fairly stable in price and being within dollar or so isn't unusual.
I've had a couple times where I was second with the exact same bid. So now I add a few cents to what I want to bid to avoid it.

If it was all with one seller I'd say you might be on to something. But a nearly clairvoyant shill operating across multiple unrelated sellers? Or multiple unrelated sellers all using some method of finding someones max bid?

I just don't see it.

Steve B

[ibuysportsephemera]

Originally Posted by theseeker

Or an experienced (shill) bidder will know exactly what to bid up to in order to get maximum return. There is no doubt in my mind that this is taking place. In a closed bidding process my max. bid is $83.63 and along comes another bidder and happens to bid up to $83.50-- $.13 cents shy of my total. Unlikely coinsidence? I think not.

Besides, if an experienced bidder is the only one up against me, he doesn't benefit from this sort of precision-- he could go well beyond my max. bid and find, within a dollar, where I maxed out at and not have to pay a penny more. The seller, on the other hand, clearly can profit, if so inclined.

How would a shill bidder know your max? What is the auction # so we can see the bidding history. If the under-bidder only bid once, it has to be a coincidence.

Jeff

[theseeker]

Originally Posted by ibuysportsephemera

How would a shill bidder know your max? What is the auction # so we can see the bidding history. If the under-bidder only bid once, it has to be a coincidence.

Jeff

With one click bidding. As soon as the new figure switches from a whole number, you know you're there.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by theseeker

With one click bidding. As soon as the new figure switches from a whole number, you know you're there.

Wouldn't the bid history show a ton of bids? I've never done the one click thing. Still, unless a lot of the sellers items are like that it would just mean one bider doing the one click thing. Usually you want to look for a definite pattern to spot shilling, and even then it's not always the case.

Maybe I should try the one click, Might be a good way to check how serious the competition really is.

Steve B