What's wrong with shilling?

[Allstar cards inc]

I use ebay stores to get around auction reserves. fairly cheap @ about 10c / 30 days regardlss of price - unless it sells, then you pay final value fees (slightly higher than auc).

Justin - And to think I held back earlier from making a comment about this blatant and shameless form of self-promotion [-X ...you're effectively "shilling" your own Ebay store on the forum...I don't know how you sleep at night!!!

 

[justdabestcards]

Justin - And to think I held back earlier from making a comment about this blatant and shameless form of self-promotion [-X ...you're effectively "shilling" your own Ebay store on the forum...I don't know how you sleep at night!!!

I close my eyes!

 

[Allstar cards inc]

I don't get it All-Star, what does it "still says"??

Or do I just "not get it" at all? LMAO!

I think you're refering to the unfinished version of my post that I accidently posted. The edited and complete version of the post now appears.
Thank-you for your interest.

 

[WoobieZarz]

Perhaps it's a template from Ebay.com? Who knows?

 

[gemini0928]

Since I also sell on ebay, in my opinion, shilling is "unethical" if you want the buyer to pay more money on your auctions... If you are just trying to find out how much your item is really worth then I dont think thats bad... But the reality is, most shillers are the unethical ones...

Auction Sniper is a great tool if you don't wanna be shilled. When I first started out on ebay, I'll put a bid on an item then someone will outbid me then i'll outbid him/her again and I pay too much for an item... With the auction sniper I pay a small percentage if I win an item but most of the time the cost will be lower than if I don't use the sniper.

As a seller, I normally put a price that is reasonable for me, if it doesn't sell then bad luck... If it sells at my starting price (with no other bidder) then I'm happy and the buyer is happy. It's as simple as that. I'd rather pay a higher listing fee than get my item bought for 99 cents...

 

[clarkescards]

Jimmy,

Sellers can also end the Auction early. I have had quite a few do it recently when their items are still at low prices with a day or 2 remaining. For example, here's one that was cancelled today.

Ended Item

 

[lockymac]

Ooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh

 

[jimmy jackson]

I don't blame the guy! I would be cringing too if I saw that card sitting at 99 cents with two days remaining... last one got to US$30 reserve not met... If you want the card, I'm sure the guy would be willing to make a fair deal with you offline if you email him. I've actually dealt with that ducky poo guy and he's pretty cool.

 

[The Truth]

I tend to agree with Allstar's suggestion from the first page. But, maybe we shouldn't put a starting price on any item and just let the bidding begin where ever the buyers stipulate? Then have a reserve set during the listing process as a vendor bid to be put on if the auction doesn't meet the price you're after?
Sounds good to me, lol! Now we just need to convince eBay.

 

[Richo]

When you bid on a house at auction the vendors are allowed to put in one "vendor's bid" but it has to be announced to the bidders. In years gone buy the auctioneer could just accept bids from trees and birds to get things going.
My point is, if you can do it for property worth hundreds of thousands or even millions maybe Ebay can come up with a system that allows sellers one "vendor bid" whether disclosed or undisclosed.

I agree with you, a one off Vendors bid (as long as it is announced).

But eBay would probably charge you for it anyways !!!

 

[clarkescards]

Jimmy, I am not bitter about Ducky pulling the card, as I am not chasing Okafor cards (although I will pick up a few bargains where I can), as I understand why. The only reason I used it was that it happened today. But on the items that may start at $1 and I have put on a bigger max bid (ie $100 for a Howard), why should I be penalised for no other bidders?? When you submit the item for auction you agree to sell the card for the final price. When I place a bid, I am entering a legal binding contract to buy that card for whatever price I may win it for (if I win it).

But the reason I brought it up JJ, was to say that if sellers can pull their auctions, (or even set reserve prices), then why would they need to shill their auctions???

 

[jimmy jackson]

Good point Clarkey but the answer to that is easy. First, pulling auctions because it doesn't get to the value you want is illegal - according to eBay's policies (again not surprisingly). If the buyer gets pissed off enough and emails eBay, the seller can be suspended. I have seen this happen. Pulling auctions also is not good for buyer confidence (not to say boosting isnt) - and most will not bid on that seller's items again. But probably most importantly, if you pull auctions, you still must pay the listing fees. This might seem irrelevant - but usually the kind of auctions that have been pulled are those worth something, so the seller has gone to some effort in promoting it and the fees are higher. And... not to mention the hassle of pulling auctions and relisting them yadda yadda.

 

[jimmy jackson]

Hey look, don't get me wrong - I don't think that shilling is necessarily a good thing. In an ideal world, when one uses a service like eBay, the 'right' thing to do is to play by the rules - even if they seem patently unfair. I do however understand why people boost bid and I don't think it's a cynical crime. It's much like doing 80km in a 60km zone when it's 4am and you are the only car on a 3 lane carriageway. Is it illegal? Yes. Is it wrong? Well... maybe... When you work 5 hours and 15 minutes, should you round it up to 5 hours and 30 minutes or down to 5 hours? Is this bad?

 

[clarkescards]

Hey look, don't get me wrong - I don't think that shilling is necessarily a good thing. In an ideal world, when one uses a service like eBay, the 'right' thing to do is to play by the rules - even if they seem patently unfair. I do however understand why people boost bid and I don't think it's a cynical crime. It's much like doing 80km in a 60km zone when it's 4am and you are the only car on a 3 lane carriageway. Is it illegal? Yes. Is it wrong? Well... maybe... When you work 5 hours and 15 minutes, should you round it up to 5 hours and 30 minutes or down to 5 hours? Is this bad?

When I work 5 hours and 15 minutes, I bill for 5 hours and 15 minutes (because I'm a contractor). But's that's just my situation.



In a fair world, ebay would enable ALL sellers to set reserve prices (like Auction houses) and if the reserve isn't met, then the item doesn't sell. But then you can still have a case where the seller still shills his items to a higher price. That's what would offend most buyers.

I also think that when bidding on reserve auctions, your bid is counted until the maximum of the reserve. Ie, if an auction starts at $1, the seller has a reserve of $50, and I put a maximum bid of $100, then the current winning bid should be $50 (and therefore reserve is met).

Personally, if I'm bidding on a reserve price auction and my bid doesn't meet the reserve, then I'd analize my bid (can I afford to go higher? If so, how much? Is it worth it?). If I still end under the reserve, then fair enough.

 

[Rayallenfanau]

thats why you see cardslisted for 1 cent, but postage is 10, even in australia, so they only have to pay for the selling fee and the percentage of the one cent. Look at electrical auction slike usb drives, they are like $5, postage $15. and stuff like that. ridiculous postasge...it figures

 

[Richo]

Yeah it's people's way of avoiding eBay fees, have a look at MP3 players, they are all like that (95% of them anyways)............try reporting them and eBay do nothing about it !!!