ebay shill bids?

Sassafras

professorben said:

Philly_Q said:

Bridgehouse said:

I do agree that it's a bit rich for a big corporate like eBay to harp on about ethics and playing fair, and it is ironic that their policy over off-ebay transactions is supposedly because you don't get buyer/seller protection but we all know it's cos it avoids fees, and they don't avoid any sort of 'fees' as a corporate now, do they?

You're right, but buyer/seller protection can be an issue.  I've done my share of "off eBay" deals, but only when they involve cash and collection in person.  I wouldn't transfer money to someone at the other end of the country with no protection whatsoever.  Would anyone?

Going back to the shill bids thing, I think it can be self-defeating.  All very well getting friends and relatives to bump up your selling price, but you could price genuine buyers out of the auction and end up with no sale at all.  Fine if you're prepared to swallow the listing fees I suppose.

Do we not do that all the time on here via ppg? 
I know I have several times, and scored a few nice pedals and a lovely guitar. 

Ah, but we're above reproach.

Winny_Pooh

carlos said:

Winny_Pooh said:

Dont kill me, but I have done this. Notably when my ex and I split, to get the min price on her piano (less than what she paid considering I'd just replaced all the damper felts) as we had a deadline to move it.
It is annoying though. I prefer a BIN w free postage myself and have done so with the last 10 or so things I've sold.

You are ebay cancer. Why not just have a reserve or start at the minimum of how much you want for it?

I'll take that as a question, and the answer is: Last minute panic. We split up and were moving out and she needed to get the minimum of what she paid (I still lost my own money effectively with the repair materials/time I put in.

Modellista

octatonic said:

The last 10 or so purchases on eBay (including the drum kit from a few days ago) I've just 'asked a question' in order to get the email/phone details of the person and done a direct deal.

Save myself £300 on the drum kit and the seller saved about £200 in fees.

I think that's totally reasonable.  I generally look for guitars locally so I can check them out before buying (unless it's an actual total bargain, in which case I can flip* it if I don't like it).  So I need their address anyway, why not buy in cash there and then, and save both parties about 15%?

*yes, that word, used correctly

octatonic

modellista said:

octatonic said:

The last 10 or so purchases on eBay (including the drum kit from a few days ago) I've just 'asked a question' in order to get the email/phone details of the person and done a direct deal.

Save myself £300 on the drum kit and the seller saved about £200 in fees.

I think that's totally reasonable.  I generally look for guitars locally so I can check them out before buying (unless it's an actual total bargain, in which case I can flip* it if I don't like it).  So I need their address anyway, why not buy in cash there and then, and save both parties about 15%?

*yes, that word, used correctly

The sort of things I am buying are generally on eBay and Gumtree simultaneously.

For example, THIS and THIS.
I think most sellers are canny- they would almost always prefer a local deal for cash but sometimes it isn't always possible.

Some people can be weird, I had one person refuse to do a cash transaction for an iMac purchase and they were literally 3 streets away.

WezV

hotpot said:

I suspected an item I was bidding on recently there was dodgy bidding as the other bidder kept putting multiple bids on until they were just over my bid by a quid or so, in the end I let them win & within 2 minutes of the auction ending I got an email off the seller saying the winning bidder had pulled out & as I'm the next highest bidder it's yours, I told him to fuck off & reported the get.

I have had that too.  Got into an argument with one over the second chance offer being my maximum bid, not the  amount I would have won it for if you ignored the fake bids.

finally got him to agree to that, then told him I was no longer interested