Ebay sniping software

[DPG]

If you try and push the price of your items by getting friends or family to bid on them the the ebay 'shill bidding' algorithm will detect it and you will get a temporary ban.

 

[DPG]

One of the things that they should sort out which is of real concern is allowing 0 rated accounts to list high valued items such as motor homes in the last few days I have reported 5 motor homes that have been listed by scammers who copy pictures etc from auto trader or gumtree and then list them as classified ads at well below their real worth and then collect deposits there was one not so long ago where 5 people turned up at an industrial unit to pick up their motor home each had paid a £1000 deposit.

One of the other things scammers do is say that the item is being sold because the owner has moved abroad, but they will deliver the item and PayPal will hold the money until you are satisfied with the purchase they then send you a false PayPal or other link explaining everything about how the money will be held etc, but it's all false and the money when paid is gone.


eBay now when trying to bid on high value items want proof of who you are with credit card details etc before they allow you to bid, it really doesn't make sense it should be the other way around.


This one here is a scam and still hasn't been taken down even though the real owner has reported it to the police and eBay


eBay item number: 403756789538

Fully agree on the dodgy sellers. You can generally spot them if they have multiple vehicles listed - every one will have a different house in the background because they've just robbed the pictures from other people!

 

[nicebutdim]

If you try and push the price of your items by getting friends or family to bid on them the the ebay 'shill bidding' algorithm will detect it and you will get a temporary ban.

That scams's been running for years. Quite a few get removed, but ultimately ebay's enforcement of their own policies is woefully inadequate. It's a great place to buy or sell but, after almost 30 years, I don't think any amount of re-branding or advertising will ever shake off their 2nd rate image.

Where they do deserve credit is the protection offered to buyers. Provided they heed ebay's advice about payments for online sales, it's very rare that anyone will be left out of pocket by scammers and that's why scams are now mainly found on the classified section in which less protection is available.

 

[nicebutdim]

Managed to forget about two items that finished this evening, which I'd meant to bid on. Thankfully they both sold for more than I would have paid.

 

[naylorpd]

I used to use sniping software all the time, but the company went under and the alternative deals didn't suit my buying pattern.

At the end of the day, if you decide what is the maximum price you will pay, and submit a regular eBay bid for that amount, you either win (happy, you got it for the price you wanted to pay) or lose (happy, you didn't pay more than you wanted). Admittedly in some auctions I do try to bid in the closing seconds to minimise the risk of another online bidder squeezing another one in, but even doing that you can be whupped by someone who set their maximum bid higher than yours days before.

 

[nicebutdim]

Been amazed to discover that sniping software costs money! Last time I used it was about 20 years ago and they were all free.

 

[LukeD]

Bid once only, max you will pay and do it 6-8 seconds before the auction ends .Check internet connection speeds ! "never ever show your hand" on a high value item with lots of people bidding . I tend to win most things this way .The ones I dont , i just crack on with another auction

 

[brianmoooore]

Bid once only, max you will pay and do it 6-8 seconds before the auction ends .Check internet connection speeds ! "never ever show your hand" on a high value item with lots of people bidding . I tend to win most things this way .The ones I dont , i just crack on with another auction

This is exactly what I do, but more like 3 - 4 seconds from the end, since I've had a reliable and fast (FTP) internet connection for a few years.
I attended many a farm auction in my younger days, and I remember my grandfather telling me "all you need is two idiots for a good sale". Seems, on this occasion, I was one of the two idiots.

 

[LukeD]

Ive seen so many SH items sell for more than you can buy new including delivery.Some people really are dumb

 

[DPG]

Ive seen so many SH items sell for more than you can buy new including delivery.Some people really are dumb

The red mist of auction buyers is amazing sometimes. I've sold over 2000 things on ebay and I still get surprised sometimes!

Mind you, it can work the other way sometimes as well. I've had things which have gone for less than they should have. That's auctions for you.

 

[UNG]

I remember my grandfather telling me "all you need is two idiots for a good sale".

Back in the 80's and 90's me & my business partner at the time went to a lot of auctions, tender and private treaty sales around the country and quite often a lot of what we bought we already had a customer for it, over a few years we built up a good relationship with some of the auction houses and did some good deals where the cost of running an auction or tender sale would not be cost effective although moving the entire stock of 2 electrical wholesalers does take some moving

One I always remember was an auction in Stockport there was about 10 bundles of 15mm copper pipe listed in separate lots and two bidders took the price well above the trade price that the plumbers merchants next door were selling it for, add in the 10% buyers premium and they paid well over the trade price and rather than take the stand on offer on some extra lots they bid on each one and bid well over again

The thing with any auction is not being drawn in by that common auction disease Bidditis I've seen it quite often that a few people get it into their head that they must have the lot at any price and a bidding war starts

 

[LukeD]

Or as a client of mine says .."Always have something sold before you buy it " .He is ranked in the top 3 experts in The world his part of the of the Antiques Business .Now retired and consulting .The money he earned in the 80'90 etc was ridiculous . He never ever liked "holding stock" .

 

[mainline]

Been amazed to discover that sniping software costs money! Last time I used it was about 20 years ago and they were all free.

That gives me an incentive to write a free sniping program but have a backdoor where I can tell it to bid on my items remotely

 

[nicebutdim]

One I always remember was an auction in Stockport there was about 10 bundles of 15mm copper pipe listed in separate lots and two bidders took the price well above the trade price that the plumbers merchants next door were selling it for, add in the 10% buyers premium and they paid well over the trade price and rather than take the stand on offer on some extra lots they bid on each one and bid well over again

There's something very satisfying about watching people do this and, when they're finished, winning the next lot for a pittance and standing on for the rest.

 

[freddo]

Bidding at the last minute reminds me of an ebay listing from some years ago. It was a pre war TV. I remember the seller getting very angry because there were over 100 users watching the listing but only 1 or 2 bids. IIRC The TV sold very cheaply as the seller ended the listing days before the finish time. By doing that it must have lost him thousands of pounds. Total madness. I thought it was common knowledge that most of the bids land in the last few seconds!

Shill bidding on the other hand is illegal and you you can be fined up to £5000 in the UK.

 

[mainline]

Bidding at the last minute reminds me of an ebay listing from some years ago. It was a pre war TV. I remember the seller getting very angry because there were over 100 users watching the listing but only 1 or 2 bids. IIRC The TV sold very cheaply as the seller ended the listing days before the finish time. By doing that it must have lost him thousands of pounds. Total madness. I thought it was common knowledge that most of the bids land in the last few seconds!

Shill bidding on the other hand is illegal and you you can be fined up to £5000 in the UK.

One of the things that bugs me is when a seller puts a reserve price on an item that you're willing to pay a good price for, but they won't reveal what that reserve price is, so unless there are at least two bidders willing to pay it doesn't sell as the reserve price is never met.

 

[UNG]

One of the things that bugs me is when a seller puts a reserve price on an item that you're willing to pay a good price for, but they won't reveal what that reserve price is, so unless there are at least two bidders willing to pay it doesn't sell as the reserve price is never met.

If you are putting a reserve on something then you may as well make the reserve the auction starting starting price IMO

 

[brianmoooore]

One of the things that bugs me is when a seller puts a reserve price on an item that you're willing to pay a good price for, but they won't reveal what that reserve price is, so unless there are at least two bidders willing to pay it doesn't sell as the reserve price is never met.

If I'm the last or next to last bidder, I contact the seller and try to do a deal outside of ebay.

 

[mainline]

If I'm the last or next to last bidder, I contact the seller and try to do a deal outside of ebay.

I have been recently been trying to buy a camper van to take my mother-in-law for day trips as she is on her last legs.
They are making ridiculous amounts of money.
So after days of weeding out the scammers and the silly overpriced, damaged or bad history ones I see one that suits on flea bay up on bids but had a reserve, i message the seller asking what his reserve was and could he give me the reg.
He sent me the reg number and said, “you will just have to bid you know what it is worth”
I explained to him that because I didn't know what the reserve was, I could be wasting both your and my time, as it maybe more than I want to pay.
The other thing being it's going to rely on another bidder making that reserve as I could bid a million on it, but the next highest bidder may only bid a £1, so it doesn't make the reserve and hence I wasted 3 days having to check.
Anyway, it didn't make his reserve and I can't be bothered to deal with him now anyway.
What he should have done is set his starter bid, it's much better then all around.

I did find one, but missed it by an hour.
A middle-aged friendly couple they dropped £2000 on the price, the guy gave them a deposit of £20 and is now trying to get a loan.
I offered them £500 more if he lets them down.

 

[nicebutdim]

If you need a certain price, then start the auction thereabouts or just stick it up as 'buy now'. The whole appeal of auctions to most people is the possibility of getting a bargain. If I see 'reserve not met' I'll often walk away, unless it happens to be something I want and will bid my max - when it's invariably relisted, I'll bid that max each time it's relisted for no reason other than to annoy the seller.

The really daft part of reserves is the cost - ebay charge 4% of the reserve price up to a maximum of £150.