The Energon Pub

by **schizophrenica** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 4:36 am

I think he means the seller using another account to bid on his own item to bump up the price. That sucks and is unethical..

by **Susinko** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 5:47 am

This is what I mean about a Buyer bidding against himself

Seller: Autofan lists an item.

Buyer: WantToBuy bids $20
Then the same buyer bids $30
Then the same buyer bids $50
Then the same buyer bids $60
Then the same buyer bids $120
Then the same buyer bids $150

All without another person bidding and all within a few hours. They just keep bidding against themselves. It's odd.

News Credits: 1 · by **Leonardo** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 6:16 am

Susinko wrote:This is what I mean about a Buyer bidding against himself

Seller: Autofan lists an item.

Buyer: WantToBuy bids $20
Then the same buyer bids $30
Then the same buyer bids $50
Then the same buyer bids $60
Then the same buyer bids $120
Then the same buyer bids $150

All without another person bidding and all within a few hours. They just keep bidding against themselves. It's odd.

That is odd, but presumably they're covering their backs by putting in a max. bid that they think no-one else will exceed. If they're the only person bidding, though, the price shouldn't go up. Even if they put in a bid of $20.00 then put in a maximum bid of $150.00, the bid should still stay at $20.00 until a second bidder makes a bid.

Website · by **DeathNoble** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 9:52 am

Lapse Of Reason wrote:By the way, Unicron's MSRP was $50.00. Add a few dollars in tax and that comes pretty close to the $59 DeathNoble paid on eBay for an awesome figure that has been off of major retailers's shelves for quite some time. When your bum feels better you should jump up and down for joy over the great deal you got.

Indeed, I got an incredible freaking deal for him. I was more along the lines of feeling like I got corn-holed by the $19 shipping tag on him. Didn't mean to come across as ungratefull... Believe me, I've been staring at Unicron before I started collecting...

Next paycheck, Primus to match Unicron!

by **Susinko** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 10:18 am

Leonardo wrote:
Susinko wrote:This is what I mean about a Buyer bidding against himself

Seller: Autofan lists an item.

Buyer: WantToBuy bids $20
Then the same buyer bids $30
Then the same buyer bids $50
Then the same buyer bids $60
Then the same buyer bids $120
Then the same buyer bids $150

All without another person bidding and all within a few hours. They just keep bidding against themselves. It's odd.

That is odd, but presumably they're covering their backs by putting in a max. bid that they think no-one else will exceed. If they're the only person bidding, though, the price shouldn't go up. Even if they put in a bid of $20.00 then put in a maximum bid of $150.00, the bid should still stay at $20.00 until a second bidder makes a bid.

I can see what you are saying. Maybe someone wants to be really really sure. You can bump up your own bids though. I know this because a few years ago, I put in a cruddy bid and put in a higher bid before I had to leave the house. It bumped the price up as if I were a new bidder.

by **Ramrider** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 10:35 am

Susinko wrote:This is what I mean about a Buyer bidding against himself

Seller: Autofan lists an item.

Buyer: WantToBuy bids $20
Then the same buyer bids $30
Then the same buyer bids $50
Then the same buyer bids $60
Then the same buyer bids $120
Then the same buyer bids $150

All without another person bidding and all within a few hours. They just keep bidding against themselves. It's odd.

Are you sure that's actually what's happening, though?
All Ebay shows you is the current price and the person who has the high bid.

In this case, it makes sense that WantToBuy has put in a high bid in the first place, say $200. But the start price was $20, so that's the price he's initially going to pay, and that's what's displayed.

Then Bidder2 decides to put in a bid. He can't see what the WantToBuy's maximum bid was, just the current price. So he decides to bid $30. Yourns out it's not enough to gazump WantToBuy, but it does mean the price goes up to $30.

SomeoneElse sees the $30 pricetag and decides he's willing to pay $50 for it. It's still not enough, but now that's what WantToBuy has to pay for it, and it's still his name on the front page.

And so it goes on. As far as I know, unless you're the seller, you're not going to be able to see under any circumstance who's bid on the item except for the high bidder, so while it may look like he's raising his price, what's actually happened is that he put on a high cap, and other bidders are driving the price up by traying, and failing, to beat it.

News Credits: 1 · by **Leonardo** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 10:41 am

Exactly. I've bumped up my own bids plenty of times.

I think buyers can see a list of bidders, but it won't show their maximum bids. I can't even remember if it shows the value of their bids. It's under Bid History, which is certainly available after the auction closes. Whether it's available before closure I can't confidently recall.

by **Ramrider** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 10:47 am

Leonardo wrote:Exactly. I've bumped up my own bids plenty of times.

Yeah, but that won't raise the price you pay, will it? I'm pretty sure you can just go in through My E-bay or something and just raise your maximum bid. Although since I never have without being outbid I may be on a wrong'un.

News Credits: 1 · by **Leonardo** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 10:50 am

Ramrider wrote:
Leonardo wrote:Exactly. I've bumped up my own bids plenty of times.

Yeah, but that won't raise the price you pay, will it? I'm pretty sure you can just go in through My E-bay or something and just raise your maximum bid. Although since I never have without being outbid I may be on a wrong'un.

Yes, there might be a way to do that. Not sure.

If you mean it won't raise the price I'm willing to pay, you're right about that, but if I put in a max. bid of £20 and someone bids £30, then bumping up my own bid to a winning £40 then that will raise the price I pay. Whether or not I sleep easy after that...well, it's my folly.

Stupid Vorath.

News Credits: 1 · by **Bhaalistik** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 2:19 pm

From reading people's posts, it looks like there is some confusion (and it could just be with me)...but I'll attempt to sort out what looks to be confusing some people...

As a BUYER, you can increase/bump your bid as high as you are willing to pay for the item you are bidding on.

As a SELLER, you CANNOT LEGALLY bump/pad/increase the bids on the item YOU are SELLING. Someone mentioned earlier that shady sellers bump the bids on their own items to get a higher price on them. The only way you can do this is have a dummy account with Ebay and bid up the item. At that point a legitimate buyer may come along and put in a bid and by then the item has an acceptable price attached to it because you illegally bumped/padded the item with the dummy account.

Hope that made sense, and provided some help.
If it was already understood, I appologize for the spew :grin:

-B

by **publicvisage** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 3:28 pm

Wow.

only page 5.

Anyway, I've run into my first trouble area; hoping someone can give some advice on procedure.

I recently bought a figure on e-bay. Pretty much as soon as I won, I paid for the item and received a payment confirmation e-mail from paypal. 10 days later the item hasn't shipped, and when I e-mail the guy, he says that he has not received my payment.

However, both my Paypal account and my bank have a record of the transaction being completed.

I've sent an e-mail to both paypal and ebay asking if they can confirm if the payment actually went through, but I don't expect to hear from them for a while.

Anybody have any advice on the next step?

thanks!

Website · by **DeathNoble** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 5:35 pm

Hmm... When I pay for my items, it takes three days for my Paypal to clear and draw the money out of my bank. Then it took one more day for Paypal to clear and for him to receive money. Four days total between when I hit the button to send payment and when he had the money in his Paypal account, fully cleared.

Can you provide a link to this guy's Ebay page or tell us about his history? I find it highly unlikely that after ten whole days this guy hasn't gotten your money...

by **publicvisage** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 7:20 pm

DeathNoble wrote:Hmm... When I pay for my items, it takes three days for my Paypal to clear and draw the money out of my bank. Then it took one more day for Paypal to clear and for him to receive money. Four days total between when I hit the button to send payment and when he had the money in his Paypal account, fully cleared.

Can you provide a link to this guy's Ebay page or tell us about his history? I find it highly unlikely that after ten whole days this guy hasn't gotten your money...

Sure.

I looked at his feedback before buying, and the only real complaint he has against him is slow shipping.

I've had other transactions after him(he was the first person I bought from) and no problems. Although eBay did upgrade to their new interface around the same time, but I don't see how that could cause a problem. I also paid through Paypal's "pay for eBay items" rather than using eBay's checkout option, but, again, I don't see why that would have any affect.
:-?

Website · by **DeathNoble** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 7:44 pm

Hmm...

Nah, it just seems like that dude's got an issue with getting to the post office and shipping things out. He's said himself that he's "shipped 5/7 days after payment" so...

So its been ten business days for you, huh? And he says he hasn't received your payment? Sounds fishy.

But as I am just getting started on this Ebay thing, I'll let others give their suggestions on what to do.

by **Bigdaddymcqueen** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 8:19 pm

First Gen wrote:One: Look at the feedback. You can review history of a seller by item. Make sure the seller knows the product and isnt just selling anything. Is the seller auctioning a reissue Prime as original? Check to see if they have sold TF's in the past and got good feedback on it. Check all negative an neutral feedback, even if its old.

Two: Do price searches. Obviously the rarer the TF the more you're gonna pay, but odds are you'll find more than one on ebay, some way higher than others. Refer to rule one when this occurs.

Three: Ask questions. If a seller doesn't get back to you within a day, forget it. Good communication is key to selling, so if the seller doesn't respond, don't waste your time.

Four: Know your TF's. Use the archives here, ask fellow members. See a price thats too good to be true? It probably is. KO's run rampant on eBay, so watch out. Look closely at pics and make sure to ask if whats pictured is what you're getting. Some sellers take a pic of one item and sell another, so you think your getting an MISB in nice condition when the packaging may be damaged.

Five: Look at shipping costs. Most sellers add a "handling" fee to ship items. Total BS in my opinion but its the nature of the beast. If you see something that you know will ship to you for under 8 bucks tagged for a 20 dollar + shipping charge, forget it.

This is GREAT advise!!! ALL of it!! although i've never won a transformer auction( ALWAYS sniped at the last minute!) its what i've done. you may also try some other transformer forums, thats where i've gotten 90% of my collection! mt some great people as well!!!

by **Bigdaddymcqueen** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 8:23 pm

publicvisage wrote:Wow. only page 5.

Anyway, I've run into my first trouble area; hoping someone can give some advice on procedure.

I recently bought a figure on e-bay. Pretty much as soon as I won, I paid for the item and received a payment confirmation e-mail from paypal. 10 days later the item hasn't shipped, and when I e-mail the guy, he says that he has not received my payment.

However, both my Paypal account and my bank have a record of the transaction being completed.

I've sent an e-mail to both paypal and ebay asking if they can confirm if the payment actually went through, but I don't expect to hear from them for a while.

Anybody have any advice on the next step?

thanks!

i'd send him a copy of your reciept! crossing out your personal info of corase! 10 days and he has'nt recieved it?? does'nt sound right!

by **publicvisage** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 9:28 pm

Bigdaddymcqueen wrote:i'd send him a copy of your reciept! crossing out your personal info of corase! 10 days and he has'nt recieved it?? does'nt sound right!

First thing I did actually...I didn't get any response until I sent him an e-mail asking when he was going to ship, at which point he told me that he hadn't received payment.

Its especially irritating 'cause the figure I bought was one I'd been looking for for a while.

News Credits: 1 · by **Bhaalistik** » Sun Oct 21, 2007 11:18 pm

If he's claiming that he hasn't received your payment, but your Paypal account says the funds have been transfered, you may want to consider filing a dispute with Paypal. They will investigate where exactly the funds went to. If they find that this guy is trying to yank your chain, they will refund the money to your account.

I remember the one and only time I got screwed on Ebay...I was trying to purchase a portable DVD player and I paid the seller, he emailed me a few days later saying he had shipped it. 2, almost 3 weeks later no DVD player (it helps to have a lot of patience when playing the Ebay game). So I filed a dispute with Ebay first. When that happens, you are given the sellers information including his contact phone number. I called it...I get a recording of a guy with a Russian accent saying "I'm not in, leave a message." Tried that to no avail.

After getting Ebay AND Paypal to go after the guy (mind you this was before the 2 companies were related), I came out 40 bux ahead! I got my original funds back through Paypal, and Ebay's fraud protection at the time covered me as well.

So it pays to keep after these slacker sellers. Sometimes it ends up getting a dead-beat scammer off Ebay.

-B

by **LigerJohn** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 12:13 am

befor starting on ebay I read How stuff works article and the wikipedia article on ebay. But a few good things I recomend:

-ask griff on wsradio.com. The guy who works for ebay and wrote the ebay bible answers questions and gives advice. You can download the shows, or get them from the itunes store

-firefox's ebay toolbar. You can keep track of stuff your bidding and selling.

My personal ebay experience is pretty good. I love "Cybertron" stuff and if the buyer has like 15.00 shipping I try to subtract that from the total I'm willing to pay.

by **Xgamer** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 12:42 am

publicvisage wrote:Wow. only page 5.

Anyway, I've run into my first trouble area; hoping someone can give some advice on procedure.

I recently bought a figure on e-bay. Pretty much as soon as I won, I paid for the item and received a payment confirmation e-mail from paypal. 10 days later the item hasn't shipped, and when I e-mail the guy, he says that he has not received my payment.

However, both my Paypal account and my bank have a record of the transaction being completed.

I've sent an e-mail to both paypal and ebay asking if they can confirm if the payment actually went through, but I don't expect to hear from them for a while.

Anybody have any advice on the next step?

thanks!

Call Paypal.. you will get the automated service...say agent to connect to a person. Tell them everything... they can clear up if the seller is being honest. I would go ahead and start a dispute/claim since item has not been shipped if Paypal tells you the seller has received the payment. Don't email... Paypal can take their time- dont make it easy on them. If you used a Credit Card and would like to escalate the dispute have them do a charge back. Paypal is known for not giving the buyer back all their money. I just got back $500 from Amex since a ebayer was running a scam.

by **publicvisage** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 11:22 am

Update for anyone who cares:

I received an e-mail from the seller today, that said he had found my payment and that eBay had apparently forgotten to mark it as paid.

I love it when technology works. :roll:

Website · by **DeathNoble** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 11:46 am

I love when people are so full of bull that they might just have brown eyes becaue of it.

Ebay is automatically updating. Other than Ebay, he could've gone to his paypal account and checked there for your payment. Unless bnoth sites were experiencing the exact same technical difficulty at the exact same time, and it all cleared up the exact same date...

Although his feedback does not mention anywhere that the figures never came or anything. I thinks he's just a lazy bum that doesn't feel like getting off his arse to hit the post office...

After you get your item... I would give him apathetic feedback, but as you're just starting out... He might give such back to you. N00bs can't afford that bad of feedback in the beginning like that...

But the choice is yours to make, regardless.

News Credits: 1 · by **Bhaalistik** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 12:10 pm

Yep, you DEFINITELY want to watch what you put in feedback, as it will usually come back and bite you. And as others mentioned, being a new user you don't want to start your feedback rating off on a negative note.

If I'm a BUYER, I don't leave feedback until I receive my item and have had the chance to inspect it to make sure all is good with it.

If I'm the SELLER, I let my buyer leave feedback first. If they never do, I don't make a big deal out of it. My rating is high enough now to where it's not that important to me if they don't leave it; the GOOD Ebayers always will and that's what is important.

News Credits: 127 · by **Counterpunch** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 12:16 pm

I'm having my first set of problems with eBay currently.

Bought my item, paid and waited.

1. The seller did not ship by the method listed in the auction (Supposedly went parcel post instead of priority).

2. Never got the item.

3. Waited and asked politely over eBay. No response.

4. PayPal claim filed. I stated that the seller would not provide tracking info. She still hasn't.

5. She still has 3 days to respond.

Seeing as I have no item, she has no tracking info, and is taking the full time to respond to the Claim dispute...Things are looking pretty good for a refund for me yes?

Honestly, at this point I'd just like some reassurance...

News Credits: 1 · by **Bhaalistik** » Mon Oct 22, 2007 12:30 pm

Counterpunch wrote:I'm having my first set of problems with eBay currently.

Bought my item, paid and waited.

1. The seller did not ship by the method listed in the auction (Supposedly went parcel post instead of priority).

2. Never got the item.

3. Waited and asked politely over eBay. No response.

4. PayPal claim filed. I stated that the seller would not provide tracking info. She still hasn't.

5. She still has 3 days to respond.

Seeing as I have no item, she has no tracking info, and is taking the full time to respond to the Claim dispute...Things are looking pretty good for a refund for me yes?

Honestly, at this point I'd just like some reassurance...

Oooo, that SUCKS.
Is your shipping address with Paypal confirmed with them? If it is, I don't see why you would not get your full refund.

One question...how did you discover that it was shipped via parcel instead of Priority if there was no tracking info? Did the seller actually reveal that to you? If that's the case, stay FAR away from that seller from now on...that's just shady and deceptive and she's flat out lying in her auction listing.

Here's hoping Paypal rules in your favor!