GRcade

eBay is a site I rarely buy from and when I have done in the past, always an item that had a fixed price. Last week I made my first bid, for s soft toy. I was the only bidder but a minute or two before the sale ended, the item went for 50p above my best bid. Given there didn't seem to be any bids up to that point before mine, I was thinking maybe the seller used an alternate account to stop me getting the item at a low price.

Before the weekend I noticed the same item (can't remember if same seller) but instead of bidding, thought I'd wait until the last few seconds of the sale before making my bid. So last night with no bids and 10 seconds to go I enter my bid but get a message along the lines of the seller does not have a PayPal account. WTF? Have other people experienced this kind of BS?

Death's Head wrote:eBay is a site I rarely buy from and when I have done in the past, always an item that had a fixed price. Last week I made my first bid, for s soft toy. I was the only bidder but a minute or two before the sale ended, the item went for 50p above my best bid. Given there didn't seem to be any bids up to that point before mine, I was thinking maybe the seller used an alternate account to stop me getting the item at a low price.

Before the weekend I noticed the same item (can't remember if same seller) but instead of bidding, thought I'd wait until the last few seconds of the sale before making my bid. So last night with no bids and 10 seconds to go I enter my bid but get a message along the lines of the seller does not have a PayPal account. WTF? Have other people experienced this kind of BS?

Not sure about the rest but my partner's mum is a hobbyist eBay seller and this is exactly what she does. Or rather, she'll get my girlfriend to place ever higher bids on products to bump up the price.

I very much doubt it's an uncommon practice.

Not always but there are definitely a lot of sellers who use alternative accounts or friends/family to bid items up and hit people's maximum bids. I've missed out on several items over the last few weeks in similar circumstances to yours and it can be very frustrating!

If you're bidding then don't place an offer until the last 5 seconds or less. Use sniping programs if you can't be available at the time. There's also the eBay app if you're not near a computer/laptop.

BID0 wrote:If you're bidding then don't place an offer until the last 5 seconds or less. Use sniping programs if you can't be available at the time. There's also the eBay app if you're not near a computer/laptop.

This is what I did, but got the message about seller not having a PayPal account! I reported this to eBay as it sounds like BS.

Death's Head wrote:

BID0 wrote:If you're bidding then don't place an offer until the last 5 seconds or less. Use sniping programs if you can't be available at the time. There's also the eBay app if you're not near a computer/laptop.

This is what I did, but got the message about seller not having a PayPal account! I reported this to eBay as it sounds like BS.

That's wrong. You've contractually bought the item so they either have to give a reasonable excuse to cancel or find some other payment method.

But you'd probably get screwed some other way.

You can't con an honest John.

It could just as likely be an auto bidder. Basically there are programs where you set your max bid and it will bid for you just before the item ends.

It's common for lots of bids to happen right in the last few seconds.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade wrote:I gave up bidding. It never worked for me, ever. I just use buy it now auctions only

^ This.

It's handy for cheap Chinese gooseberry fool instead of having to go through alibaba.

I can't be arsed with bidding on ebay, I'd rather just buy things from a real shop, it might cost a bit more but at least I don't have to deal with scummy twats peddling their potentially counterfeit shite.

jawa's patented guide to eBay bidding that eases frustration and tears:

1) Decide on the maximum price you want to pay for an item
2) Use eBay's own bid function that allows you to set a maximum bid and enter yor maximum price
3) Sit back and wait. Your current bid will be automatically increased by eBay if someone else bids above your bid (up to your maximum price)
4) Happy days! The bidding period ends and either you've "won" the item at a price somewhere up to the max you wanted to pay; or you've "lost" the item because someone else was wiling to go higher than your maximum price

I learnt this through previously having periods of frustration and tears.

Whenever I'm after something on eBay the first thing I do after a search is change the results to just show Buy It Now. Can't remember the last time I actually bothered to bid on something because it's just full of sniping gits.

You should try selling on there. This last few weeks I had a banana split bid on an item so someone else couldnt have it, then refuse to pay me forcing me to pay a £40 invoice which I then had to dispute. I had a twat bid on an item and then after the auction ebay told me tough titty he doesnt seem legit and deleted his account, meaning I cant relist or cancel the item. I had a dickpipe file a dispute saying the item hadnt arrived (it had) and all he had to do was sit on it and not say a word and ebay withdrew the money directly from my account leaving me down the postage fees, the item fees, and the item.

Gently-Hung Holly Wreath wrote:You should try selling on there. This last few weeks I had a banana split bid on an item so someone else couldnt have it, then refuse to pay me forcing me to pay a £40 invoice which I then had to dispute. I had a twat bid on an item and then after the auction ebay told me tough titty he doesnt seem legit and deleted his account, meaning I cant relist or cancel the item. I had a dickpipe file a dispute saying the item hadnt arrived (it had) and all he had to do was sit on it and not say a word and ebay withdrew the money directly from my account leaving me down the postage fees, the item fees, and the item.

I've got two synthesisers and a Vita to sell and I'm deliberately putting it off for these reasons.

Oh yes... if selling, I would strongly recommend only posting stuff by recorded delivery and build that into the price. There are a ton of cheats and thieves out there on eBay.

I haven't used eBay in years on account of it being dog gooseberry fool.

I always send things recorded delivery, and even then there are buyers that will claim they haven’t received it and start a dispute. The money is then automatically frozen while eBay ‘investigate’. Last time they sided with me because I had the Royal Mail receipt and signature clearly stating the bastard had signed for it. Damages, scratches, knocks...people will try to pull any old gooseberry fool.

The eBay/PayPal/postage fees are also astronomical, which is why I try and tie it in with a special offer such as “sell for a £1”. Rare though.

Sometimes it really is easier just to go down to Cash Converters or CEX.

I had the exact same thing. Guy filed a dispute, I provided proof it was sent and was there, he just didnt reply at all. The funds were frozen. Then after around 10 days of nothing (5 days after the limit ebay set) they just automatically sided with him and took my money.

I got no option to fight my case and he was totally silent throughout.

I once bought a game through eBay and, when it arrived, the disc was literally snapped in half, right down the middle. I complained to eBay but they took the seller's word over mine and I got no money back. Seller claimed it must have been done by the Royal Mail but there was absolutely no way that would have been the case. Got burned a few times on eBay and so I vowed never to use it again. It really is an absolute dog gooseberry fool website.

Mafrozen wrote:

Gently-Hung Holly Wreath wrote:You should try selling on there. This last few weeks I had a banana split bid on an item so someone else couldnt have it, then refuse to pay me forcing me to pay a £40 invoice which I then had to dispute. I had a twat bid on an item and then after the auction ebay told me tough titty he doesnt seem legit and deleted his account, meaning I cant relist or cancel the item. I had a dickpipe file a dispute saying the item hadnt arrived (it had) and all he had to do was sit on it and not say a word and ebay withdrew the money directly from my account leaving me down the postage fees, the item fees, and the item.

I've got two synthesisers and a Vita to sell and I'm deliberately putting it off for these reasons.

I've got loads of games and other stuff I want to sell but I'm really reluctant to use ebay for the same reasons too.

A few are worth a sizeable sum so I just know some pikey bastard will try ripping me off.