Suspicious Ebay Bidder?

Am I just overly suspicious or has anyone else thought this also?

I don't like seeing "Private Listing - bidder's identity protected" bids on eBay. The bidders ID are not shown until the lot is won, so what's so secret about bidding on a bunch of stamps on eBay? Does the NSA track these auctions so they can snipe them at the last second? Are terrorists keeping massive stamp collections? Is T. Boone Pickens trying to corner the market on Israel MNH tabbed stamps? I'm all for privacy but this just seems suspicious to me.

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI....310194976859

And while I'm on a RANT - Private guy, if you're gonna bid, man up and bid! Stop this $2 increment bidding. Put in a bid worth your time! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

OK, I'm better now.

Laswabbie,

I might be wrong here, but the use of "Private Listing..." is chosen by the lister not the bidder. From the Ebay help pages:

While there are some cases where private listings are appropriate, such as the sale of high-priced ticket items or approved pharmaceutical products, you should only make your listing private for a specific reason.

I do not disagree with you, I find it very frustrating. Now, I really don't understand why this is, because bidders are now anonymized on Ebay with the use of random initials. While some bidders can be discerned by the number of feedbacks they have, that is really hard to do, so I don't understand why Private Listing is used. And, your real identity is never disclosed except between buyer and seller.

As to the bid increments, please look closely at the dates and times here. The pattern is a little different than what I think you think it is. The current high bidder was actually the second bidder and then it looks like someone else placed a series or small increment bids and then lost his nerve and stopped. This is not an uncommon pattern on Ebay, IMO. I've seen this all the time.

In any event, all this is moot, since all the real action will happen in the last 10 seconds with people using sniping software.

-Larry

Me thinks the swabbie doth protest too much.

T. Boone Pickens cornering the market? Ohhh, sure. All the while you quietly amass the largest holding of Chagall booklets outside of Israel.

Oh, we're on to you, swabbie, we're on to you. (If, in fact, that's your real name.)





On a (slightly) more serious note, I always thought it was up to the seller to decide if its private? Does the buyer get a say? (I've never been a party to one, on either side.)

Hi Greg.....


A few years ago there were a lot of people complaining that winning bidders were being harassed by non winners for bidding against them and making them loose out on items that they felt were theirs because they bid first. Some were harassed so bad that non winners were flooding them with hundreds of emails, continuing days and weeks after auctions ended. Also, there were some that actually threatened people to make them stop bidding against them.

The only way to prevent it was to make all bidders anonymous.

Bid increments are determined by the dollar amount....not bidders.....bidding services automatically rise by one increment regardless of the maximum submitted.

OK cjd - you got me! I'm really T. Boone Pickens.

notrare - I wasn't talking about the minimum bid increase increments. This guy/gal made four separate small increase bids over a span of 1 minute and 13 seconds. I'm just RANTING mind you, but come on man. I know it's your right to do so, but make a serious bid or get out of the way.

I remember the problems some sellers were having, and that's why they went to the policy:




Seriously, what I find unusual is that this is a NYStamps lot and of all their lots that I've bid on or looked at I've never seen them make one private.

I guess I'm just bored at work today and ticked off at the world and taking it out on eBay. I'll stop now.

Greg.....


Just to make sure I understand........you're not up-set because the guy is bidding.......you're up-set because he's bidding less than you think he should ???

Swabbie, you have a point...i used to know who I was bidding against..for me eBay is not the gem it used to be...there are plenty of good little dealers on..well you know the places I bid on..i dont have to advertise for them..back around 1999 I did not even have a scanner and I was just describing lots on eBay and people were buying like there was no tomorrow..but I sell 50 and 75 cent stamps..there is no way I can afford the fees on eBay...

The technique that Greg is referring to is sometimes known as nibbling.

Some people do it because they are using a false ID to bid up their listing. (that is illegal) Some people do it because they want help their seller buddy bid up the item. (illegal if they made any direct/implied agreement to do so) This type of activity is sometimes referred to as shill bidders/bidding.

Many people do this at some charity auctions, where pretty much most people know everybody else and it's pretty much expected that your buddy is going to try his best to make your charity bid get bumped up as high as possible. In that case, it's all in good-natured fun, and is not considered shill bidding (my opinion).

Back to nibbling...

Some people do it as payback for having lost out on a previous auction to you.

Some people do it to protect their own bidding -- a warning that if you bid on items I'm interested in, then I'm going to bid on items you are interested in. In other words, you cost me, then I'm going to cost you.

Some people do it just to see how high somebody was willing to pay for it. I've watched as some bidders got curious and caught someone who had entered a ridiculously high bid (we are talking $100 for somewhat common item), not thinking that someone my try to bid it up. It was not an accidental bid, just foolish high bids. You know they didn't do that again afterwards!

Yeah, you know I used to spend a lot of time watching the internet bidding action. It's quite interesting studying the bidding habits/techniques of others. Please note, obviously I don't condone any of the above activities (other than bumping up charity bids ).

k

I would be more concerned about affiliate link embedded in the above link than a seller choosing private listing option.