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Today I bid a fairish price on a couple of moderately collectalbe items in a "private sale" from the same seller with 2000+ positive feedback. I won one - not the other.
10 mins later I get a second chance on the one I didnt win. So quick it sounds dubious - and I start digging. Their history shows zilch - all private sales. But a search for the item description seems to show they have sold the same item at least twice before.
Now I've not bought the 2nd item - but I have paid for the first - and its only £30 but I smell a rat.
I'm reasonably ebay savvy - this is new to me. Any ideas? Just paranoia?
You wanna ask yourself why they list their item as a private sale - my only experience has been reporting someone for obvious shill bidding - all that happened is that all their subsequent sales were private listing, nothing that bad if you are happy with the bid price though
Thanks Dicky - I would have touched it with a pole except for the 100% 2K+ feedback.
After an hour of digging I suspect they are regular shill bidders, and I have have probably lost out on the item I have paid for.
Strange, as if I had only bid and won on the one - I would be pretty happy!
What's the problem with 2nd chance offers?
I've used them often in the past where I have had a couple of duplicated items, if the 2nd highest bidder was good enough, it was easier to offer it as a 2md chance rather than list again, where it may or may not have made as much.
So you have paid £30, was it worth it to you? if your happy good, if it doesn't turn up you can always claim off buyer protection.
There is a facility that lets you see the 'percentage of bids with this seller' of people that have bid on the same item as you: the idea is that you can tell if the same bunch of friends or alias accounts are routinely used to shill bid. I would be even more suspicious if the positive feedback is all for low value items or if you can't see what items the seller's sales feedback was actually for.
I suppose it depends if you think what you paid for was worth your £30 or not, but if you are feeling righteous and the evidence suggests shill bidding, you could report them to ebay, lose the purchase, get your money back and be saitisfied that they get at least a big slap from ebay.
What's the problem with 2nd chance offers?
Jimc - Thanks - Ordinarily I wouldnt have a problem - but this is a "private listing" - I cant see anything about the seller and he nearly instantly offers a second chance - so I started digging and see that he has "sold" the same item before.
I may be paranoid, he may well have a few versions of these WWII type razors in his drawer but I'm dubious.
Thanks Julian too.
Yep - both items were worth £30 ish if in reasonable condition and he's not cloning them or something. I have no evidence that he's shill bidding - its just a bit odd. You cant tell from his history if he's been selling ipads or 1p ibooks. It's just all positive.
Overall I think I'll just chalk it up to experience and not bid on anything in a "private listing".
I've asked for photos of the 2nd item (actual item) and dont hold out a huge expectation for the 1st item.
#Edit - Now I've found copies of the photos used in the first listing too. Experience seems to cost around £30 nowadays!