Everything eBay! Scams, questions, etc...

[Dave]

Yeah, all of my "commodity" auctions for things like POTF2 Yoda figures are only domestic.  If I've got something somewhat rare I often list it internationally if I feel it can get significantly more for it elsewhere.  And I pad my international shipping quotes to only send via trackable methods to deal with the potential headaches.

[Phrubruh]

I'm currently dealing with a seller that been kind of strange. First, he offered free shipping but sent the item in an usps flat rate envelope. The problem is the item is a large box so he cut the envelope up and made his own box out of it. The post office was not happy and I had to pay for postage. The seller says he does that all the time and they've never complained. He is suppose to be refunding my money.

Secondly, the item was advertised as "Brand New" however the box arrived ripped at the corners and the seals were broken. He taped the front of the box shut. All of the cables were unraveled and there was dust on the item. There were no instructions. The seller says he showed me a picture of the opened box and said it was never used and therefore "Brand New". This wasn't the same box since it wasn't ripped at the corners.

He said he would leave feedback if I did for him. My question is if I give him negative feedback, can he give me negative feedback in retailation? Does it effect my rating? I have pictures of the box and its condition. Can I complain to ebay about this guy selling used as new?

[BillCable]

Sellers can't neg buyers anymore.  I'd ask for a full refund including shipping and return it.

[DSJ™]

Sellers aren't able to leave negative or neutral Feedback for buyers.

can sellers leave negative feedback ebay

[Rob]

RIght, he can't give you negative feedback or anything, but you've got more options than that.  If you paid with Paypal I think you can file a claim under the "item significantly not as described" option.

Or before going that route you can tell him that you're considering filing a claim and leaving negative feedback and see if that gets him to budge and give you a refund or a partial refund or whatever.

[DSJ™]

Or if you paid with a credit card via Paypal, you can call your credit card company & request a chargeback & **** Paypal. 

[Phrubruh]

I've actually done that in the past with the credit card company. When they argue with you, I just tell them to close the account. That gets them to do whatever you want. Then the charge back shows up on his paypal account and paypal shuts him down.

Well the device is working correctly and I got it for half off retail so it really doesn't matter the condition of the box. I just want my shipping back which he said he would give me but hasn't yet. Negative feedback is coming his way as soon as that money appears.

[MattCBR]

Shilling: getting bid up to your max proxy bid on e-bay, usually down to the cent during the last seconds of the auction, so the seller makes the most money possible (according to google search results).

Technically you're not getting ripped off, because you were willing to pay that amount.

It is frustrating as a buyer.... to think that sellers can find out your max bid and then bid one cent below that amount... it even happens if I attempt to bid in the last 10 seconds sometimes.

It happend today, won a lot of POTF2 figures for $33.59, the exact amount of my max bid... the auction had no other bids and I entered it 10 seconds before the end... I could have had the lot for .99 cents and $10 shipping... yet some random bidder with 100% positive feedback of (144) shilled me

I still got a good deal IMO... but it's not the insane deal I was expecting... anyone else have that happen here?

[Rob]

I don't get it, if you waited until 10 seconds left to bid, how did they have time to figure out your max and shill?

[JediJman]

I don't get it, if you waited until 10 seconds left to bid, how did they have time to figure out your max and shill?

I was thinking the same thing.  Maybe you just have a competitor looking for about the same stuff, willing to bid about the same amount.  It's odd your prices were so similar, but it happens.  He/she may also have the mobile Ebay ap, which I've fond to be a lot faster than just bidding from my PC.

[MattCBR]

I know, that's what I thought... until it's been happend to me for the second time now this month.

This discussion came up on some forum off a google search:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=290383

Some people think they somehow hacked e-bay, or there is a computer program to make bids and then stop just before wining the auction, or even that e-bay is in on it lol.

I don't know how they do it. Except that it does happen... I guess I'll be more careful deciding what my max bid will be.

[MattCBR]

yeah I was watching the live bidding and the box where the ammount was (the .99 cent high bid) began flickering... I thought it was mearly re-loading the entire page... you know, to say "congrats you won" but no, it stopped at $33.59 my max bid...

When I clicked the bid history... it didn't show all those failed bids of the other person that seemed to happen in a blur... just one of them for $33.33....

IDK, nothing to lose sleep over... just wondering what other people have experienced.

[EdSolo]

If the person happened to bid $33.33 at say, three seconds left, he doesn't win, because he bid lower, but it should have only bumped your bid up to $33.34, unless ebay has made more changes that automatically bumps you up by the minimum bid instead of matching or just beating a lower bid.

[R5Don4]

There are programs that will bid at the last second.  It's called sniping and it works very well.

[BillCable]

If the person happened to bid $33.33 at say, three seconds left, he doesn't win, because he bid lower, but it should have only bumped your bid up to $33.34, unless ebay has made more changes that automatically bumps you up by the minimum bid instead of matching or just beating a lower bid.

You have it wrong.

Case #1: 
Bidder bids $40
Sniper bids $32
End price:  $33 (because the min bid increment at that level is $1)

Case #2:
Bidder bids $39.59
Sniper bids $39.00
End price:  $39.59 (difference between bidder max and sniper is < min bid increment)

With this auction, since the snipe was $33.33 I don't think it was an instance of shilling.  People can sometimes snipe at "interesting" dollar amounts.  It just happened his snipe was within a few cents of your max, so it ended at your max.