Belt Auction

Do you think ebay allows shill bidding? Does this sound like shill bidding?

I read an article that said ebay doesn't make any real effort to stop shill bidding because ebay makes more money from higher final value fees. I turned someone in to ebay that I strongly suspected of shill bidding to test this theory. The seller in question sells one of a kind art. I became suspicious when I began noticing this seller(A) would re-list the same (one of a kind) art pieces more than once. I kept track of seller's(A) bid history and saw one bidder(O) who was bidding on more than 95% of all this seller's auctions. Mostly 'nibble' bidding. This same bidder(O) won a few of seller(A) auctions but never with a last minute or even a last day bid. Most of the one of a kind items that were won by this bidder(O) were re-listed by seller(A), usually a few months later. Most suspicious when bidder(O) bid on the same art-pieces he had already won the first time the artwork was listed by this same seller(A)! I've witnessed this happen about a half-dozen times now (same seller, same bidder). Ebay has done nothing and both seller(A) and bidder(O) are still registered users. What do you think?

Public Comments

1. You are right eBay does not care, and yes that does sound like shill bidding definitely. As long as they get their FVF's they're happy to let anything slide. Over on the Aussie discussion forums atm we're watching another type of habitual scammer - those that buy items on eBay, pay through paypal, and THEN file an INR (item not received) dispute EVERY SINGLE TIME with Paypal. The seller refunds them in full, so the seller's are out the item AND the cash. these are accounts with HUNDREDS of feedbacks - and they leave taunting feedback's for the seller all saying (something like) "thanks for the refund" - so you go through and these buyers have never actually paid for ANYTHING they've bought - for like 200+ feedbacks left! They just get a refund cause they scam the seller through Paypal. Of course as you have seen, eBay and Paypal don't CARE about this at all - as long as they both get their fee's (which they do) they're happy. EDIT: Paypal don't seem to bother checking tracking numbers from Aussie seller's.
2. I don't see much point in shill bidding as you can always start the bidding at say £20 instead of 99p or put a reserve on the item if it is worth more than £50. If it is worth that money and somebody wants to buy it, you will get your money anyway. As for the "item not received" scam, that is why you are advised to send items out using recorded delivery. The item can be tracked and the buyer has to sign for it when he gets it. If the Post Office say that they have delivered it & have a signature to back it up, the scammer will have a problem complaining.