Posted on 01/28/2007 6:38:39 AM PST by COUNTrecount
CUSTOMERS of the internet auction site eBay are being defrauded by unscrupulous dealers who secretly bid up the price of items on sale to boost profits. An investigation by The Sunday Times has indicated that the practice of artificially driving up prices — known as shill bidding — is widespread across the site.
Last week one of the UK’s biggest eBay sellers admitted in a taped conversation with an undercover reporter that he was prepared to use business associates to bid on his goods for him.
Our inquiries found evidence that a number of businesses — ranging from overseas property agencies to car dealerships — have placed bids on their own items using fake identities.
The cases raise questions about whether eBay, the world’s biggest auction site, is doing enough to protect consumers.
Shill bidding is against eBay rules and is illegal under the 2006 Fraud Act. However, the resulting higher prices on the site boost the value of eBay’s share of the sales.
Last November eBay changed its rules to conceal bidders’ identity — making it even more difficult for customers to see whether sellers are bidding on their own lots. Since its launch seven years ago, eBay’s UK website has attracted more than 15m customers. It sells more than 10m items at any given time.
One of the beneficiaries of the boom is Eftis Paraskevaides, a former gynaecologist, from Cambridgeshire. He has become a “Titanium PowerSeller” — one of eBay’s handful of top earners — selling more than £1.4m worth of antiquities a year on the site.
In a conversation with an undercover reporter last week, Paraskevaides claimed shill bidding was commonplace on eBay.
When the reporter asked whether he arranged for associates to bid on his own items, he replied: “Well, if I put something really expensive (up for sale) and I was concerned that it was going for nothing, I would phone a friend of mine, even a client of mine who buys from me, and say: For Christ’s sake, I sell you 100 quids’ worth of items a week . . . just put two grand on it, will you?” The reporter was posing as a seller of valuable antiquities. He inquired whether Paraskevaides could sell them on eBay and guarantee a minimum price.
He replied: “Leave it to me (laughs). Don’t call it shill bidding. Then I won’t be accused of shill bidding. Yes. I mean — I’ve got people.
“I’ve got some of my big clients who buy big items off me, I look after them. So I can get on the phone to America and say: Mr XXXX . . . you’re a multi- millionaire. You buy a hundred grand’s worth off me a year. Do me a favour would you. Just put — yeah. Exactly.”
He claimed eBay would never follow up a complaint against him for shill bidding because he generated about £15,000 a month in commission for the company. “Are they going to ban somebody who’s making them the best part of 15 grand a month? No,” he said.
After being told that he had been talking to an undercover reporter, Paraskevaides denied that he had ever shill bidded on eBay and claimed he was talking about clients who sometimes bid on expensive items if they wished to protect the price.
However The Sunday Times discovered businesses that have been bidding on their own items. One leading dealer from London admitted last week that that he had shill bidded in the past.
A spokesman for eBay said he expected that the company would now launch an investigation into Paraskevaides. Anyone caught shill bidding risks a permanent ban.
The spokesman added: “The change to the way bidder IDs are shown has already resulted in a safer environment for users.”
I've known this simply because of the "second chance" offers I have received right after the auction closes. I have a policy of never accepting them. What I do is to shop ebay to see what something is going for; the realistic and reasonable price and then I wait until the last hour or minutes and put in my maximum bid. That way the "snipers" can't get me in the last few seconds. I have a timer by my computer to remind me when to place the bid. Works well and I have gotten some very good deals. And always check the reputation of the sellers and read the comments. And I'll give another clue as to getting the best price. Check the model # of various items and see if a cross referenced part is selling for less money. I purchased an identical cordless phone battery for a camera that was exactly the same and had a buy it now price $2 less than the cordless phone battery by the same seller. Guess which one I bought; actually two so I would have a spare. Working just fine in my phone. Got it yesterday. The thing that get my goat most of all are these crooks with their outrageous shipping costs. I give them the one finger salute and I understand that ebay if finally cracking down on that racket. Having said all this I use ebay frequently and have yet to be ripped off and maintain a 100% reputation that I value and treasure.
http://www.bidnip.com/ is your friend.
bump
I didn't know you could do that?
I keep a small calculator near my computer and I Add, Multiply, and Divide as I bid.
THIS WORKS FOR ME...
Yes that's free. But I also use acid-free plastic to seal any vintage collectibles prior to them going into the box. I generally seal anything I'm sending against it possibly getting wet. (Ever have the P.O. leave a box outside in a rain or snow storm?)
Glass and breakables are double-boxed. Plus lots of tape, printer ink, etc. And also my time. Carefully packing items is the most time-consuming part of ebay -- I really work for "peanuts".
Here's a great site with some tools which allow inter-user activity to be observed (bidding and feedback):
http://www.toolhaus.org/
Are you talking about phones, accessories, adapters, what ?
As it goes in the market place....BUYER BEWARE!
EBAY is an awesome tool, community and market place. I use it weekly and I am aware some sellers can use alis username/accounts to bid on their own items. But again, be prepared to pay what you think it is worth to you, don't get caught in the emotion of it and try and beat someone just for the reason to win and BUYER BEWARE!
It's a free market..nobody is forcing you to bid!
Most "second chance offers" are bogus. One of eBay's biggest screwups was starting this feature. Many sellers are now running private auctions simply to thwart the scammers who send out fake second chance offers.
I have better luck bidding on multiple items of the same type (or very similar) then I can stick it to the shills and ask the seller to prove the highest bid was a real sale.
I've never done it myself, but I had one buyer-from-hell who recently "left the building" who used them a lot. I noticed when her "bids withdrawn" number hit 10 in six months she was gone.
> He claimed eBay would never follow up a complaint
> against him for shill bidding because he generated
> about £15,000 a month in commission for the company.
> “Are they going to ban somebody who’s making them
> the best part of 15 grand a month? No,” he said.
They might if you brag about it to the media.
Reportedly, eBay has moved against this seller.
If their user ID was "bidancient", in the last
48 hours they went "NARU" in eBay parlance.
Perhaps the seller knew this NARU was pending.
We may see eBay claim that their new shill-sniffing
codes caught this seller (since most of bidancient's
stuff closed about US$200, and bidder IDs are
hidden, it surely wasn't a buyer dropping a
dime on them).
I've been the #2 guy quite often. It does piss me off!
I have a lot on my plate today, but I hope I can use that site and give some feedback later this week. Thanks!
Obviously, it seems to me, there are bots running against certain types of eBay auctions sending out phishing (fake) "Second Chance Offers". I suspect that is what you are getting.
I couldn't agree with you more about the outrageous shipping fees. The irony is that they actually get less money than they would get and fewer bidders, if any, than if they just put in reasonable shipping charges. Even if I am interested, why would I bid on something with a $30 shipping charge on a $5 item I can buy new at the local Office Depot for less money.
I guess these crooks are always out looking for the "greater fool" and evidently they are still there for the fleecing. In my opinion ebay ought to ban these crooks outright who charge excessive shipping fees. I once sent an e-mail questioning the shipping to such a shipper and got back a terse "ok". He knew he was a crook. Ebay nees to rein that crap in.
I'm a notorious sniper too. I buy from ebay frequently and have done so for 7 years.
I have only had one problem whith a plate that I bought from a lady in England. It arrived in pieces and I was told too bad, there wasn't any coverage as it had been shipped Royal Mail who doesn't provide insurance on overseas pkgs. The plate was poorly wrapped and had very little padding. I responded that I would leave negative feedback and that I would say that it was inadequately packaged in my feedback. She refunded my money and asked that I not leave any feedback.
I always know exactly what I am looking to buy and the going price so I set my limits accordingly. I also accept that if I don't get this one another will come along. It's not the end of the world.
It never ceases to amaze me how ignorant people are about proper packing. I received a glass item once (not eBay) which the shipper merely slipped into a bubble lined envelope. Of course it was broken when it arrived.
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