EBay seller to be fined for shill bidding!

[hairyangryfella]

Its not ripping anyone off. Its your choice to buy it or not! If the price goes too high its simple JUST DONT BUY! It is there item to start with after all so if you dont get a bargain just get over it and stop b*tching! There are far worse things that can happen than that.

So you condone it?
And so you're saying if, like in the example I mentioned, I sniped it and had to pay more because it was shill bid, that I should just not follow through with payment, and possibly get an unpaid strike against me? Great advice there Paul...

 

[Dr. Curlytek]

Paul09, you might be correct if you were talking about a regular sale of an item. In that case, sure, the seller can determine whatever price they want for the things they are selling, and the buyer can choose to buy, or not to buy, or to negotiate.

The laws are completely different for auctions. The winning bidder is legally bound to go ahead with the purchase. They put their bid in in good faith that they are bidding against other legitimate interested parties. The seller has the right to set the starting price and reserve, but it is rorting the process for them to influence the bidding.

 

[Ersk]

Its not ripping anyone off. Its your choice to buy it or not! If the price goes too high its simple JUST DONT BUY! It is there item to start with after all so if you dont get a bargain just get over it and stop b*tching! There are far worse things that can happen than that.

Like Dr Curlytek said.

THe auction style of selling is to sell at the "Market Value". If the seller wants a certain price, then they need to at least set a reserve or have the minimum bid at or above their minimum sell price.

What sellers are doing by shilling is trying to get the Highest price they can get for the item. An auction is not the style of selling if they want that. For that, tey need to set a high BIN with the option for an offer to be placed, then the seller and potential buyer can negotiate a price.

Shilling or dummy bidding is to over-inflate the price. Yes, one person may be willing to buy for a very high price, but if only one person wanted it aat that price and the next person will only want to pay half that price, then the lower price is the market price.

The seller is just inflating the price up to get the higher price, which is not the market price.

That is the problem that had plagued the property industry in the past, with overinflation of prices.

I think the opposite of what you say is more the truth: If the seller is not willing to sell the item for a bargain, do not set a low start price and do not sell as an auction.

Ersk

 

[GiRDS-]

ouch 50000 euros

 

[Ersk]

ouch 50000 euros

It is £50,000 not €50,000. Which is even more than €50,000.

But that is only the maximum, not sure if they have decided how much to fine him yet.

Important thing to note is that this was a law not specifically for EBay problems with shilling, but in general for any auction site, which would include the big guns like Sotheby's and Christie's, but probably also property auctions, where single deals can be worth millions.

Ersk

 

[Jaames]

Theres nothing worse when you have been out bid on a item then choose not to bid again only to receive a "second chance" to buy 30 seconds after the auction ends at the higher price.

 

[GiRDS-]

It is £50,000 not €50,000. Which is even more than €50,000.

But that is only the maximum, not sure if they have decided how much to fine him yet.

Important thing to note is that this was a law not specifically for EBay problems with shilling, but in general for any auction site, which would include the big guns like Sotheby's and Christie's, but probably also property auctions, where single deals can be worth millions.

Ersk

ohhhh. thanks for the info

 

[hairyangryfella]

Theres nothing worse when you have been out bid on a item then choose not to bid again only to receive a "second chance" to buy 30 seconds after the auction ends at the higher price.

And if it's a rare card that's how you can tell it was... so you reply to the seller with an offer that was 1 increment more than the 3rd highest bidder...