Keep in mind when you’re deciding on the maximum amount you’d like to pay that you’ll need to pay the cost of shipping too.īidding on items can be exciting, but it is a contractual obligation. We’ll let you know if someone outbids you and you can decide if you want to increase your maximum limit. We’ll bid in increments on your behalf to keep you in the lead but only up to your limit. To set up automatic bidding on an auction listing, enter the maximum amount you’d like to pay for the item and select Place bid. I don't know why.Once you set up automatic bidding, you can stay ahead of the competition for an item without needing to be on the eBay site. RE: extending bidding - this has been brought up almost ad nauseam, but eBay persists in not starting it. (Auctioneers actually have a name for this, it's called ''taking bids off the wall.'') Yet another type of dishonest auctioneering I personally have experienced was done by an auctioneer who claimed someone behind me was bidding, when they were not. The problem for shill bidders is to guess when to STOP bidding, because they want to drive the final price up for their partner - NOT win the auction. Shill bidding happens in every kind of auction, including many in-person auctions, where a ''plant'' in the crowd (the seller's or auctioneer's partner) bids to drive up final hammer prices. We spotted a pretty obvious eBay shill bidder who consistently placed high bids on his friend's listings. It's much like the trickery shield bidding described by but it doesn't include canceling bids. Someone who does not want to win an auction deliberately drives the price up for another bidder (or even the auctioneer). Wed Dec 14 21:21:25 - Shill bidding is a form of cheating. It got around the collector group he was brutalizing and I sold my item to one of the underbidders, all of whom were really nice honest guys. We actually were able to get together and figure out who it was, because I and several other sellers had his address and name. I got together with the underbidders of an item I was trying to sell. Then he would cancel the purchase or simply not pay. Unfortunately we can't expect eBay to do anything, let alone try to punish the shield bidder who even if banned, will just open another account in a different name and be back at it again.Ī few years ago there was a guy who got his jollies terrorizing several bidders he apparently knew, he would bid an off the wall crazy amount that would always top the legitimate person's bid.

It sounds like someone has figured out who you are and a way to do nasty things to you. If it happens often enough I would try to keep track and eBay should be able to figure out who is doing it. Of course if you put in a bid (not sniping) what you're describing is the perfect way to reveal your maximum. Re the shield thing, I've never heard of this one (but clearly it's a type of shill bidding, thought up just for eBay?) It sure is rotten, but I don't see it happening to a snipe bidder because no maximum bid will have been registered on eBay. You can't see userids now but you can check feedback numbers. Wed Dec 14 10:21:52 AddyUp - Unfortunately I don't know as there is much that can be done about shill bidding, although if you follow someone's auction listings it can become clear it's happening, because the same bidder shows up on too many listings, as under bidder. I doubt the average CS agent could comprehend if you tried to explain.

I contacted the eBay seller (a large liquidator) and they said they were aware of the scam. The 'winner' walked away with a great deal. I couldn't understand why my snipes were failing. I have personally experienced this multiple times. This means it would be impossible to ever snipe lower than the shield. Because the retraction takes time to process, the timestamp on the retraction may actually be beyond the auction end time. A few seconds before the auction ends, the shield retracts his bid. Assuming there's no competition, the shield bidder places a much higher bid to block any further bidding. About 45 minutes before an auction ends, the potential buyer places a 'bargain' bid. Apparently, eBay does not pursue this violation. I'm sure some have noticed bidders with low feedback and 50+ bid retractions in the last 30 days. Did You Know eBay Has a Policy Devoted to Snipe Bidding?Īctually, there's a new game in town- retracting a 'shield' bid at the last second.

Silent sniper ebay bidder review