Re:[CR] Response from Shill Bidder--Colner on eBay

(Example: Bike Shops:R.E.W. Reynolds)

From: <GPVB1@cs.com>
Subject: Re:[CR] Response from Shill Bidder--Colner on eBay
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2002 22:09:04 EDT

Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2002 20:49:33 -0500 From: The Maaslands <TheMaaslands@comcast.net> Subject: I: [CR]Response from Shill Bidder--Colner on Ebay To: Classic Rendezvous <Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>

Lou wrote:
> I got the below response from the guy who is selling the Colner and he admits
> his mistake. Of all the explanations I've heard, this is one. Lou Deeter,
> Orlando FL
>
> "Yes, I am new to selling on ebay and wasn't quite sure how things worked so
> I had a friend show me what ebay was all about and ended up putting the bike
> under his user name. I then made a screen name for myself to start using and
> was screwing around figuring out what everything was and sent in a bid not
> realizing I was able to bid on the item. If you will notice I don't have any
> remarks next to my name because I am new, and that is also why the initial
> email went to the "deisell" email address in which you then got a return from
> the jvan8 address. Sorry if I caused any inconvenience and I hope you
> understand. Everything described about the bike is still the same as was
> before."

To which Steven added:
> Since the 'shill' bid still did not bring the highest bid up to the reserve,
> I would give this fellow the benefit of the doubt. This does bring up
> another question. In reserve auctions, when you have the hypothetical
> situation where your bid is the highest of those made up to then and the
> first to pass the reserve, does your bid register at just above the highest
> previous bid or does it go to the level at which the reserve was set?
>
> Steven Maasland
> Moorestown, NJ
>
>
>

Steven:

With all due respect, baloney! The seller set the reserve himself!! That is classic shill bidding - he wouldn't *want* to bid it to the reserve, but merely create the impression that the item is more valuable than it actually is. This guy should be at the very least suspended IMO - although it won't happen, because Bay is about making more money for eBay, and *nothing* more.

Regarding your question, that's an easy one - in your theoretical case, if you bid a max. that is higher than the current high bid and the reserve, you will *always* be the new high bidder, at the reserve amount. The only possible exception would be if the previous high bid were so close to the reserve that one "increment" of bid pushed you past reserve. In that case, I think you might be the new high bidder at the slightly-higher-than-reserve, one increment higher, number.

Remember, rules number 1 through 17 of eBay are "more money for eBay," and there are no rules higher than 17!!!! (classic content: Monty Python reference there...).

This brings me to another point regarding eBay: we all know that it is heavily tilted in favor of the sellers (see rules 1 through 17, above...). The only things that buyers have in their quiver are knowledge and stealth. As a buyer, one needs to leverage those two things to try and not overpay IMHO. If you don't bid your true intentions until the last 3 seconds, it's pretty hard to get shilled, get into a bidding war, or draw unwanted attention to the item in question. That's one of the reasons why there is software available to snipe for you. The knowledge part comes into play regarding the various details, written or photographic, of the listing (and in lots of other areas as well, of course). Read those listings carefully, and scrutinize the pics. extremely closely. Sometimes you'll find very interesting things that way. Careful review of a seller's feedback can also increase your knowledge immensely as a potential buyer. I pass over dozens of otherwise tempting items weekly, due to what I see in the seller's feedback. While certainly not a perfect system, it will speak volumes about how that person does "business."

I enjoy many of the "eBay outings" that we see so often on this list, but in reality we all need to remeber that all we are doing is putting more money in those sellers' pockets, as well as eBay's, by creating buzz around the item, by doing so....

Hey, I still think eBay does bring a lot of sellers and buyers together in a basically unique and fascinating way, but we need to understand the strengths and weaknesses of eBay in order to be successful there.

End of rant, thanks. I feel better now.

Cheers,

Greg Parker
A2 MI USA