posted on July 13, 2008 10:24:46 AM new
Hi all! I have been bidding on items from several VERY different categories on ebay and ebay motors and have noticed something very odd going on. Almost all of the other bidders have similar user names and they ALL go something like this - a***a, b***u, y***a...and so on. Not just a few of them, but ALL of them. Different user names in that configuration and totally different auctions. Additionally, there can be several different names like this on one auction. Do you suppose there's a team of bidders out there? And why would they be doing this? Shill bidding? I've been a seller for years and do buy things frequently, but I've never a seen a rash of similar names like this. I'm not paranoid but it is odd...what do you think? Here are a few of the auctions:
posted on July 13, 2008 10:34:34 AM new
Surely not a coincidence. I think it's the team who assassinated JFK come back to haunt eBay. Or maybe it's Elvis, who didn't really die, trying to lure you to his mountain hideaway. Or maybe it's just eBay's lame way of keeping bidders anonymous, as in:
"To keep eBay a safe place for buyers and sellers, eBay limits how bid history information is displayed. When the highest bid, reserve or Buy It Now price on an item reaches or exceeds a certain level, other members cannot see member-specific information—such as user IDs—for bidders on this item. Only the seller can see a bidder’s user ID."
posted on July 13, 2008 10:38:42 AM new
Yeah, but I've bought many things and haven't seen that. So after all these years I've never noticed it. I guess I'm not very observant. I hope it's Elvis..that would be cool!
posted on July 13, 2008 10:52:47 AM new
I just looked at the first auction...I think it's eBays way of hiding the bidders. What I didn't understand, though, was the the two highest bidders BOTH showed $50.00. Shouldn't the first one listed have a higher bid price?
posted on July 13, 2008 01:20:34 PM new
Blueeyes, in the case of a tie (i.e., they both bid $50), the first one to bid wins the item. With proxy bids, there's really no other fair way to handle it.
BTW, it's an illustration of why you should always bid a non-round amount (e.g., if you bid $50.36, you're more likely to win an auction than if you bid $50.00, and the extra $0.36 isn't likely to be the 36 cents that broke your back).
Loren, that hiding of bidders is relatively recent and kind of quirky in terms of when it's applied, so it's not a surprise that you haven't noticed it before. If it was Elvis, be sure to send a signal from the mountain hideaway; it would be so cool to think that all those tabloids have been telling the truth all these years... which means I CAN lose 30 pounds in 2 weeks. YAY!
posted on July 13, 2008 01:51:27 PM new
Dont forget to say hello to Princess Di and who is that guy she was with?
I heard they are living happily on an island.
*
Gulag-a Soviet era concentration camp
posted on July 13, 2008 02:46:20 PM new
Good,Cash because although I'm aging, I'm glad it's not that fast~! I don't buy a lot of stuff on ebay and when I do, there often aren't that many bidders. Thanks for the info! I'll take it and put it in my overstuffed memory bank.
posted on July 13, 2008 03:12:56 PM new
Cash...Call me dense but I still don't understand. If one bidder put in a bid of $50, why didn't the second bidder (who also bid $50) get the message that his bid wasn't high enough and he'd have to bid at least $50.50 (or whatever the increment is)?
posted on July 13, 2008 03:20:06 PM new
Blueeyes, even though you told me to, I won't call you dense.
Hypothetical, because I don't have the auction in front of me. Bidder A bids $20, the auction shows price of $19.50 (or whatever the increment is). Bidder B bids $50. Auction shows price of $20.50 (or $20+increment). Time goes by............. Bidder C bids $50. Price shows $50, with bidder B the winner.
posted on July 13, 2008 09:46:43 PM newwhy didn't the second bidder (who also bid $50) get the message that his bid wasn't high enough and he'd have to bid at least $50.50 (or whatever the increment is)?
He/she did receive that notice. It is automatic. What likely happened is the bidder simply thought going over $50 was too much and quit bidding.
posted on July 14, 2008 04:22:52 AM new
Sorry, barparts, wrong.
The second $50 bidder got a message saying that he/she was outbid, not that the bid was insufficient.
[ edited by cashinyourcloset on Jul 14, 2008 04:47 AM ]
posted on July 14, 2008 06:31:13 AM new
I have seen the same thing and thought I was just nuts..(still a strong possibility) but now someone else has seen this as well.
It's very prevalant in the vintage and antique jewelry lots. I spend quite a bit of time there and check out a lot of auctions and I find these weird bidder names like.."a...a" "a...c" quite often. I wondered what was going on also.
At the time I first started seeing these bidders i thought I was being paranoid when I felt something was wrong but now I'm not so sure.
Could it be...No, tell me it isn't so..maybe ebay is pulling something fishy???
posted on July 14, 2008 09:07:44 AM new
Capolady, If I remember correctly, we're the same age (56). Based on my small sample size of 2, I'd say it is an epidemic at 56 My kids agree.
I don't buy a lot of stuff on ebay and when I do, there often aren't that many bidders. Thanks for the info! I'll take it and put it in my overstuffed memory bank.