Looks like some eBay sellers were busted for placing phony bids to inflate prices. We all know this is only the tip of the iceberg, but at least this will send a message! I suspect this just happened to me last week. I was outbid on an item and almost immediately after the auction ended, I got the second chance offer (which I declined). It was the same guy that supposedly sold the 67 owners manual for $1,000.
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Re: Ebay phony bidders busted
Good to hear! Some people are sooooooo stupid about it too. I have started to look at previous auctions of the sellers. I found this one guy that had about 15 sales and the same person seemed to be bidding on all his auctions. All the stuff he was selling was crap-ola too. I was bidding on this one item and then got majorly out bid at the end of the auction. I thought, "No way would anyone bid that thing up!" Then a few days later, the item showed up being sold by the say guy again. Go figure? When I checked to see the high bidder on the original auction, it was the same as all his other auctions. It would be one thing if what he was selling was worth something but in this case his stuff was total junk. I think he is spending more in the process of relisting things all the time because nobody bids on his stuff any ways. He's the only person that bids on his stuff???!!! What a looser.
Later, Terry -
Real names = real bids
I wish eBay would tighten up their bidder registration requirements. I'd prefer that every bidder use their real name (rather than some secret agent bidding name) and give a valid credit card number to eBay. That might make it a little easier to sort out the fake bids and collect damages from the fakers. But, I don't believe there is a foolproof way to make sure an on-line auction is on the up and up.
Even with all the different ways to be defrauded, I have better success at buying rare parts on-line than I do at swap meets. Out of my ~500 eBay buys, much less than 1% have turned sour. However, I usually end up regretting a good 20% of my swap meet purchases. Go figure.Comment
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What a typo!
I meant to say that much less than 10% of my eBay deals have turned sour.Comment
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Re: Ebay phony bidders busted
Don,
Same thing happened to me. I was bidding on a set of valve covers, lost the auction twice by 5 bucks; both times I was offered a second chance.
Come to find out both auctions were the same company, same telephone number just different names
GaryComment
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Re: Real names = real bids
It is a nice idea but wouldn't work. Most buying do not what the world knowing who they are. Real auctions are essentially anonymous to an extent. If you know the person in person, you know, but otherwise, all you know is the number someone tosses in the air if you are lucky enough to see their bid card.
And eBay has all of the real contact information anyway from the registration. They just won't let you have it.
That is the catch. They won't let you have the info to catch the deadbeat bidder or the guy who renegs on a deal and eBay won't do anything about either.
The problem is really eBay, not the people on it.
Besides if we did real names, and your name was Bob Williams, only one of you could bid, or they would have to have aliases again, i.e., bobwilliams1, bobwilliams2, ..., bobwilliam175, etc.Comment
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Reason for hidden identities on internet?
Mostly it's for people ashamed of their own behavior or afraid of being held accountable.
Spend some time on bulletin boards that allow secret screen names. You'll read the worst garbage and dumbest ideas to flow from human beings.Comment
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Re: Ebay phony bidders busted
The bad thing is that ebay encourages the use of the second chance offer. They have a special link you can use after your item is sold. They could put a stop to this nonsense by simply monitoring the percentage of sales that go to a second chance offer. If a seller's auctions end with more second chance offers than not, you can be assured they are using phony bids.Comment
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Deadbeat bidder identification
I've found that eBay doesn't withhold all registration info on others from their users. They just limit giving it out to those involved in a transaction.
Any seller or buyer in a completed auction can get the real(?) name, city, and phone number of the other person. I've requested and received this info several times when I had no e-mail responses after auctions. Usually the registered phone number was fake if the person was a die-hard deadbeat or bored teenager. If I then told eBay the phone number was false, they always cancelled the registration of the deadbeat within 48 hours.
Such a cancellation is not nearly as satisfying as, say, seeing the jerk get a piano dropped on him. But it's something you can get eBay to do.Comment
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Re: Reason for hidden identities on internet?
True, since you say mostly. But I do the hidden part on eBay for two reasons - retaliation from some of the really bizzarre people and to protect my bidding.
A few years ago, we had a couple of freaks looking us up and doing some harrassing. When the ID was the name, and you list the town in the location, it isn't hard to find on Switchboard or several other places. When "godsgifttowomen" and several other aliases similar to that were banned from our auctions for being a deadbeat and began emails and messages, we knew we needed something different.
When I see "63Z06" bidding, I know he will go high on a part that is for a Z06. So does the seller, and as we know, there are shill bidders who raise their prices and there are people playing games to see how much they can make you spend.
When I see your ID on there, I know you and know you probably are going a bit more on the part than most. If I know, others know.
I also keep selling and buying IDs separate. If I buy an item for $10 and discover I don't really want it, I don't want people seeing that when I try to sell at $20 to recover the price and the shipping. I also don't want them seeing that I may be selling several Corvette parts, because they know when I am buying Corvette parts, I may go higher than others, and don't need someone "helping" my bid climb.Comment
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Re: Deadbeat bidder identification
I managed to get an ebay seller jailed a few years ago after a fraudulent deal. He called me all sorts of bad names, but when his case worker called me during his pre-sentencing investigation, I had all the goods. Hopefully, he's still making little rocks out of big rocks!!Comment
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Bidder identification works 2 ways
As soon as you request it on him, he gets yours, too.
Now I have always conducted my business in a way above reproach, open about the bad, and not wanting anyone to ever feel they were taken. Someone wanting revenge could cause me too much grief to do otherwise.
But on the Internet, we are open to so many nuts and crackpots that all that goes away. Yes, 99% works just fine, but that 1% can be pretty nasty. They look for trouble, and I just don't need that.Comment
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Re: Ebay phony bidders busted
I think E-bay should make sellers add the "ME" to their information . That tells you some thing about them . I do when I sell to let people know a little about me .I also give out my e-mail and phone number so that others can call to ask questions. Because I don't wont people to think I'm selling a bad part or ripping them off .Comment
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Re: Ebay phony bidders busted
I let my reputation/feedback speak for itself. I don't share my phone number for the usual reasons. TerryComment
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