eBay weird shill bids

[Tristan.]

I'm selling a car on eBay at the moment (the delica that died in Newcastle a while ago) and I'm a little surprised how much it's going for. Essentially two bidders with normal feedback for cheap car traders bidded it up to £500. Since then three users with no feedback and generic meaningless names have bidded it up to over a grand. To the right person it could be worth this much. They're so rare that it's hard to say what they're worth. But this does seem a bit odd.

Currently trying to amend the advert to add a line asking that people with low feedback message me within a day of bidding or I will remove bids. I didn't initially cos the whole "serious bidders only" thing always seemed a bit futile and pointless.

If we assume the worst and these bidders aren't serious. Then what is their motivation? I can think of a few ways* someone could gain from it. But they're all so convoluted that I don't see how or why especially on such a cheap unusual car.

* firstly to shape the market. If you have a similar product to sell then put a high bid on one. Let it sell to your shill account and you know you don't lose a potential customer plus you increase the percieved value.
Alternately do it to ensure you get offered the second (third) offer. Put in a low bid with your genuine account then two much higher shill bids. Seller doesn't get anywhere with the winner or the second place chap so goes to your genuine account which locked in a low price with no risk of being outbid.

Anyhow is this a normal eBay thing when selling a car nowadays, Or does it sound like someone is dicking around with me.

[ws4936]

[Tristan.]

[ws4936]

Some will bid first, sort payment after, others might 'enquire' if they can do that first. I would imagine a few eBay auctions have had to be relisted because of the 'bid now, send western union email later' scenario.
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[mentalboy]

Aaaah...and the penny finally drops!!! That's why sellers put 'no bidders with zero feedback' on their listing! (I always wondered, after all everyone has to start somewhere)
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[Ste]

Putting "no bidders with zero feedback" or "serious bidders only" isn't going to put scammers off.

Scammers generally don't use brand new accounts with zero feedback, they use accounts with many feedback which belong to someone derp enough to click the link in some phishing email that asks them to 'click here and confirm all your account details'.

I'd be sitting back and waiting for the auction to finish. Chances are the most serious bidders will do their bidding in the final minutes or seconds of the auction so there's not too much point worrying about people who're pushing the price of the auction up by bidding now.

If you want then you can find out what else they've been bidding on by looking here. https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/ebayadvsearch?_sofindtype=3

[UncleFester]

You can remove those bids if you want - i have done so on previous occasions and then blocked the bidder from rebidding if i really wasn't happy with their other feedback.

Zero feedback idiots who don't want to buy are a pain as it costs you time and relisting fees plus you miss out on the genuine bidders who would have bought it at a price you were happy with.
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2017 Z1000SX

[Rogerborg]

I'd remove those bids now so as not to put off genuine bidders.

If they're serious then they can always re-bid or better yet, contact you after the auction closes to make an offer. I'd consider an eBay 'winning' price to mark the start of serious negotiation, not the end.

Car goes to the first cove to actually turn up with pennies.
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[Ste]

It doesn't cost you anything in relisting fees.

I've had far more trouble from "experienced" eBayers than I have from zero feedback new eBayers.

"you miss out on the genuine bidders who would have bought it at a price you were happy with."



That sounds a lot like what happens if you remove bids just because they're from new eBayers.

[UncleFester]

https://www.msn.com/en-gb?pc=UP97&ocid=UP97DHP is the link to cancel bids.

The problem with zero feedback users is that I don't really want them getting their feedback on £200 of laptop for example. Anything you sell these days needs trackable postage otherwise you risk getting scammed by 'non delivery' and that just makes some items not worth selling.

Once you've paid the list fees, paypal cut, faffed about going to the PO and paid the postage .... anything less than £50 is barely worth the effort.

The last chap i sold an iPod to was low feedback, he claimed all kinds of errors with the listing, non delivery and then after admitting he had it, he claimed it was broken in transit and tried 3 times for a refund but thankfully Ebay upheld my claim ( i had photos of the item, the packing and the tracking reciept ) and released the funds.

Another bloke bought a bluetooth car radio, wanted a refund because it didn't work properly with his iPhone despite the listing clearly stating it was ANDROID compatible only. He then asked if i would give him a hand wiring it in to his car as he wasn't quite sure what he was doing - makes you wonder how he worked out it wasn't working with his iPhone but i digress

I think Ebay has just about run its course.
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2017 Z1000SX

[Ste]

[UncleFester]

[Tristan.]

[Sable]

[thx1138]

I've given up auctioning vehicles on ebay, and just do ebay classifieds now, and just sort the scammers and eejits from the genuines

[Tristan.]

[Ste]

Of those two auctions, yours has got a much more detailed description which is always a good way to get moar bids.

Also, that one which has sold hasn't necessarily actually sold as the seller hasn't left or received feedback for it.

[Tristan.]

[angryjonny]

Methinks the guy who bid 1211.56 is genuine. The "winning" bidder is just a machine that keeps adding £40 until it's in the lead again. On behalf of someone who *really* wants a broken Delica? Who knows?

[Tristan.]

[MattEMulsion]

My brother in law sold a knackered, battered all round Merc V-Class people carrier thing that was on an R plate, which had major engine trouble. He put it on ebay and sold it through an auction at around £1500. I thought it was only fit for scrap but the winning bidder turned up, paid up and was over the moon.

The moral of the tale - even the most knackered rarest motors are still worth a chunk of money to the right people.
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[chris-red]

I weirdly like that, silly question can't you just fit a cooler the to the Autobox? A rad and a couple of oil hoses and surely jobs a gooden?
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[Tristan.]

[mattsprattuk]

"shill" bids.

Shill
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Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[Tristan.]

I removed his bids and he rang me the next day. Is a real person and does really want it that much will see when I have the money in my hand exactly how serious he is...

I hate selling vehicles. You know that weird guy that comes up to you as your kitting up to tell you about the C90 he used to have, him and all his mates love ringing up numbers on adverts too. Had a 10 minute call earlier, humoured him while he was telling me about the transporter he used to camp in whilst birdwatching. I finally managed to steer the conversation back to if he wanted to come view it
"Oh no thanks, it's out of my price range"

Who are these people?