Everything eBay! Scams, questions, etc...

[Muftak]

Anyone have any tips on how to best "beat" a shill bidder on ebay?

[Rob]

Anyone have any tips on how to best "beat" a shill bidder on ebay?

Shill bidding is against eBay’s TOS… so idea one is to report them.

Idea two is to do what I do.  Don’t bid. Decide your max price and put it in during the last three seconds.  Win or lose, they don’t have a chance to shill, and you don’t get into a protracted bidding war.

[GrandMoffNick]

No one asked, no one cares but I'll vent anyway. Sure enough I put in a bid with 5 seconds left that made me high bidder but by the time the 5 seconds was over the 0 feedback bidder "won". Now as of yesterday the seller has the item relisted for BIN $200 more than I bid on it. Maybe he got screwed by allowing a 0 feedback bidder to bid on a high $ value item but I cry foul play.

[Dave]

Probably good you didn't win it based on the seller's ethics.  Who knows if what you would get would be legit or altered in some way.

[Muftak]

I don't understand the desire to attempt a swindle. If they want a certain amount for it, just start the bidding there or put a reserve. Either the buyer is willing to go that high or they're not.

[GrandMoffNick]

I assume they may have been ok with my high bid but hoped my highest bid was higher. But since it wasn't their plan backfired. They couldn't do the "second chance offer" as that'd be super obvious. So they waited a couple weeks and relist it a bit higher than I bid. It has a best offer option. So if me or someone else offers them close to that they then still make out ok.

[Ryan]

I'm going to assume this is a joke of a listing... but I got a kick out of it. Supposedly the seller has a lot of 100 POTF2 Boba Fetts with a BIN of $1,800.00:

[Dave]

So he thinks they're worth $180 each?  It looks like the going rate on eBay is somewhere around $10.

Who does this guy think he is?  Hasbro with their Boba Fett tax?

[McMetal]

Think how many extra parts and paint apps they have though! 

[Ryan]

I found another listing that gave me a chuckle today. Item condition is listed as "New: A brand-new, unused, unopened, undamaged item (including handmade items). "



I had no idea the "exploding" feature on the POTF2 Speeder Bikes was so realistic... 

[Rob]

This one gave me pause... I know those Vaders are kind of expensive, but aren't they like $100 each?  This guy thinks they're worth $900 each?!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/133331007438

[Muftak]

He's saving you so much legwork putting the set together though, that's gotta be worth 20k just for the trouble saved...right?

[Rob]

Whatever eBay just did to the My Ebay page, I absolutely hate it.  I can't find anything. 

[Nicklab]

I've been doing a fair amount of selling for the past few years.  The result of buying WAY too much.  So, does anyone else get inundated with questions like this?

"Whats the absolute lowest youd take?" [sic]

Do people think that's actually something that a seller would answer?  Especially when I have the BEST OFFER option enabled on pretty much every listing?

Call me crazy, but isn't traditional negotiating supposed to go like this?
-Seller sets a price
-Potential buyer makes an offer
-Seller can - A - Accept offer;  B - Decline offer;  C - Counteroffer

I was tempted to tell this latest clown to go f*** himself, because I'm so over eBayers asking that question.

[Muftak]

All the time! They will even tell me why they need to pay less than the listed price!

Of course, I am basically making bespoke product, so that's different.

I have best offer turned off, but they still send messages trying to get things for less than I have listed them. My pat answer is that I am making these on demand and typically sell through the quantities I list, so it's not something that I am looking to unload.

And then, when I have a slow weekend, I very often send offers of $5-$10 off to people watching the listing.

All of that said, pretty much anytime I buy something at a vintage toy store or a toy show, I will always offer them like $10 less since I am paying in cash. It usually goes pretty well.