eBay "experience"

[SilverRich]

I posted this in a positive eBay thread, but I wanted some input so I started this one.

 

 

I won two nice CGC SA books recently at about 75% of GPA. The problem is that the seller had an obvious shill bidder working with him, but not at the back end of the bidding. I put about 8 of his items on my watch list and the same bidder ran up every single one of them.

 

I know the shilling was blatantly obvious, but I got the books for a decent price. What would you do in this case? I've been holding off on payment for a few days, but should I just grab the books and keep my mouth shut?

 

 

Edit : Oh...and one other "small" detail that I forgot to mention...the shill bidder had FIFTEEN bid retractions in the last 6 months!

 

 

[thehumantorch]

Not sure what you can do other that pay after knowingly bidding despite the suspected shilling. Kinda like sending your food back at the restaurant after eating it all.

[Aces]

I know the shilling was blatantly obvious

 

You sure?

Could have been a guy bidding on a single sellers items going cheap (under 75% GPA you said) to combine shipping costs.

 

We'll need a link to see this "shill".

[Senormac]

The thing I've learned with ebay is shillers are lurking all around. The only strategy that gives me any peace of mind......is figuring how much I would actually pay for some book........then sniping that amount at the end. It seems to me that shillers usually only bid something up a few bucks at a time.....so if you can get your max bid in........and not leave enough time left for a shiller to bid it up......you are doing yourself a favor.

[TSwift25]

I don't know if you can call it blatantly shilling if you still got the books for a good price.

 

Perhaps it was just a buyer with fortuitously similar tastes.

[Senormac]

Theres a difference between a good price ......and a GREAT price. One time I was out of town during the end of an auction for a book I wanted.......so I had to put in my high bid and leave.....hoping when I returned......that I would be the winner. Well....yea I won it......but when I checked Bid History.......the second place guy......with 30 minutes left.....had bid it up......$5.......$10.......$20........$40......before he gave up and I had to pay $40 more than I needed to if I had been sitting at my comp......waiting to snipe.

[thehumantorch]

I don't know if you can call it blatantly shilling if you still got the books for a good price.

 

Perhaps it was just a buyer with fortuitously similar tastes.

 

I often place low bids on multiple items from the same seller to placemark them for later bidding. I know my low bids have no chance of winning.

[SilverRich]

I know the shilling was blatantly obvious

 

You sure?

Could have been a guy bidding on a single sellers items going cheap (under 75% GPA you said) to combine shipping costs.

 

We'll need a link to see this "shill".

 

 

I would rather not "out" the guy on here, but the "other" bidder had on average 50-60% of the bids on most of the items. As I said, he didn't bid late (I actually sniped) and he didn't win a single auction. Just seems fishy to me but I'll take the books for the price.

 

 

As for someone who said about "sending my food back" ...I simply hate to see people get taken advantage of that don't know better. My question was whether to report the guy or not.

[thehumantorch]

I know the shilling was blatantly obvious

 

You sure?

Could have been a guy bidding on a single sellers items going cheap (under 75% GPA you said) to combine shipping costs.

 

We'll need a link to see this "shill".

 

 

I would rather not "out" the guy on here, but the "other" bidder had on average 50-60% of the bids on most of the items. As I said, he didn't bid late (I actually sniped) and he didn't win a single auction. Just seems fishy to me but I'll take the books for the price.

 

 

As for someone who said about "sending my food back" ...I simply hate to see people get taken advantage of that don't know better. My question was whether to report the guy or not.

 

I was just pointing out that you noticed the suspicious bidding and still bid so it seems unreasonable to not pay. I've never had any luck reporting shady sellers on Ebay but it's worth a shot. I hate shill bidders.

[Fazybones]

Reporting the guy will do absolutely no good and my opinion

is e-bay doesn't care that much.

 

I reported a seller that had a zero feedback buyer bidding on every

single auction this seller listed. E-bay said that many bidders

feel comfortable with the same seller and I would need more proof.

 

I watched her auctions for nearly a month and only after she finally

slipped up and her shill account won a few auctions that I had

something to go on. She then really screwed up and left feedback

for this shill account and then relisted the books and the shill

account immediately bid on the books they had supposedly just

won.

 

I sent e-bay an e-mail with dates, item numbers, issue numbers

and the grades and pointed out the same books were listed again

with the same bidder bumping up the auctions. E-bay finally sent

me an e-mail thanking me for making e-bay a safer place for buyers

and sellers and they would deal with this matter.

 

She received a two week suspension and I wasted about ten hours

of my life that I can't get back. I would just pay for the books.

[Mio]

Shill bidding is illegal in many states, is it not? I remember an art dealer in CA went to jail for it. But why I am not surprised eBay doesn't care much.

[thehumantorch]

I notified Ebay about a seller who was buying low grade incomplete or restored books from Clink and listing them on Ebay as complete, unrestored and higher grade. I included the Clink auctions/scans and the Ebay auctions. The comics had very unique markings but I've yet to hear back from Ebay. By the way, this Ebay seller was essentially tripling his money on these listings.

[jkrk]

I posted this in a positive eBay thread, but I wanted some input so I started this one.

 

 

I won two nice CGC SA books recently at about 75% of GPA. The problem is that the seller had an obvious shill bidder working with him, but not at the back end of the bidding. I put about 8 of his items on my watch list and the same bidder ran up every single one of them.

 

I know the shilling was blatantly obvious, but I got the books for a decent price. What would you do in this case? I've been holding off on payment for a few days, but should I just grab the books and keep my mouth shut?

 

I like the fact that you can look at the bids on E-Bay and possibly detect shill bidding.

(thumbs u

What other auction venue gives you the same opportunity?

 

If you bought the books well below GPA then I suggest you pay the seller and be glad that you paid less than through "traditional" sources.

[HouseofComics.Com]

She received a two week suspension and I wasted about ten hours

of my life that I can't get back.

 

Yeah, but great job Fazy! The seller would've continued doing it if you hadn't done something. (thumbs u

[Fazybones]

I notified Ebay about a seller who was buying low grade incomplete or restored books from Clink and listing them on Ebay as complete, unrestored and higher grade. I included the Clink auctions/scans and the Ebay auctions. The comics had very unique markings but I've yet to hear back from Ebay. By the way, this Ebay seller was essentially tripling his money on these listings.

 

I've tried the same thing with those zero feedback sellers that

Paratrooper likes to torture so much. (thumbs u

 

I've sent e-bay the Clink book for sale with the serial number

clearly shown and the e-bay scan and serial number are

indentical and their response was the owner of the book or

scan had to complain.

 

I have seen a few where maybe enough people complained

or maybe CLink reports the attempted scam and the auction

was pulled. Paratrooper's tactics are more fun.

 

Just the thought of some fellow collector getting ripped off

really annoys the hell out of me.

[thehumantorch]

These weren't stolen images from clink's site, these were the actual books purchased and cracked out of slabs.

 

What does paratrooper do to these sellers?

[PokerKid]

I posted this in a positive eBay thread, but I wanted some input so I started this one.

 

 

I won two nice CGC SA books recently at about 75% of GPA. The problem is that the seller had an obvious shill bidder working with him, but not at the back end of the bidding. I put about 8 of his items on my watch list and the same bidder ran up every single one of them.

 

I know the shilling was blatantly obvious, but I got the books for a decent price. What would you do in this case? I've been holding off on payment for a few days, but should I just grab the books and keep my mouth shut?

 

I like the fact that you can look at the bids on E-Bay and possibly detect shill bidding.

(thumbs u

What other auction venue gives you the same opportunity?

 

If you bought the books well below GPA then I suggest you pay the seller and be glad that you paid less than through "traditional" sources.

 

It is quite likely the seller was just saving a bit of money on eBay fees and not necessarily shafting anyone. He figured the books would sell at a certain price, but if he starts the bidding under a buck, it is dirt cheap to post them. Then he shills up to a more reasonable bid, but one he is pretty sure will get beat - so he doesn't have to pay the fees to sell the book to himself.

 

If these were done before you I started bidding I wouldn't mind. If I had put bids in there and this guy drove them up, I might feel a lot differently.

[Fazybones]

These weren't stolen images from clink's site, these were the actual books purchased and cracked out of slabs.

 

What does paratrooper do to these sellers?

 

 

 

I think he has temporarily retired from this practice or we haven't seen

a HG stolen image of Amazing Fantasy 15 in a while. He bids the

fake book way up to an unbelieveable winning bid and then stalls the

con artist for several weeks about paying with several different excuses

until their e-bay bill comes in. Now they don't know if the Trooper is

for real about paying and that e-bay bill for the final sellng price must

be rather large. They must regret or think twice about their big money

making plan.

 

Cracking incomplete books off CLink is a scam I've never heard of

and doesn't the seller receive negatives for selling incomplete books?

The problem with many of these crooks is they don't work and have

all day to think of different ways of cheating hard working people out

of their money.

[SilverRich]

I'm buying the books because I got a really nice deal, even though I knew I was swimming with sharks. But as I said, I hate to see people get burned on this stuff (which I'm sure many probably have).

 

Oh...and one other "small" detail that I forgot to mention...the shill bidder had FIFTEEN bid retractions in the last 6 months!

 

I placed the above statement in my initial post after I remembered it.

[Fazybones]

She received a two week suspension and I wasted about ten hours

of my life that I can't get back.

 

Yeah, but great job Fazy! The seller would've continued doing it if you hadn't done something. (thumbs u

 

Thanks Marc,

 

I used to be quite the e-bay detective and helped Flaming_Telepath

or as I knew him then "Gwentleaf" out a guy that he sold a Restored

ASM 37 to and the buyer turned around and sold it for about five

times as much. Of course no mention of the Restoration and he

bumped up the grade from a VF- to NM.

 

I believe Nick mentioned it on these boards before I was a member

and the buyer who was a lawyer in Toronto was so happy about me

reporting the scam he sent me a VF/NM Spidey 119. (thumbs u