DrJB

Pi$$ed at eBay .... sorry .. puZZled with eBay

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But seriously, I have been watching an item for few days and decided to start bidding on it.

1. I enter my bid, I get an answer that I've been outbid by a previous bidder

2. I increased my bid few times, but to no avail, he still beat me.

Then the auction ended and he won ... I went and checked the history of bids, and such bidder was never there before me ????

I though the only way you can put a 'max bid' was if you bid first and either you win or lose .... but how can you bid against someone who was not there to begin with? I'm totally confused as to how this works, and how eBay allows this. Oh yeah ... and the winning bidder had only a one transaction history ... fishy you think? That's a big red herring!!!

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Just remembered that this should be in the general section ... but the item I was after was an 8285 truck ...

Edited by DrJB

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I understand! I was bidding for a Blacktron set and within a minute of closing a user put in $1 above mine!!! Kinda similar in that the user's username that outbid me had only 2 letter differences between his past one... Same person/relative maybe??

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soemthing is really strange ... I'm thinking of reporting this to eBay ... it does not sound right.

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Automatic bids? I don't usually bother with anything on there that isn't "buy it now", but this sound like a similar happening.

Allegedly you can make a private maximum bid, and each public bid that doesn't beat it will be automatically met with a small increment. I assume that this is to make it difficult to guess the value of the maximum bid.

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Another post about to get moved for the 1000th time. Now thats something to be upset about.

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eBay doesn't show the bidder's real username anymore unless you're the seller. The usernames are similar because they're fake usernames just generated to show unique bidders.

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The person is probably using a third party auction snipping utility. You feed it your Ebay credentials, tell it your max bid then it will place the bid in the last 10 seconds or so and keeping bidding up in dollar increments until it wins the auction. This is if the auction price does not go over the max bid.

I should add the the utility can bid significantly faster than a human manually can.

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I'm aware that eBay does not show real names ... but you can 'guess' based on the number of transactions that the eBay-er had ... and this guy came out of nowhere.

Still, does not sound right. Few times I've been outbid by a 'buyer' with zero purchase history ... but that it is clear the seller is trying to up the bids. The situation in my first bid is very different ... and not sure there is a simple explanation to it.

Another post about to get moved for the 1000th time. Now thats something to be upset about.

Read-up! ... I said I realized this was the wrong section. If you don't like it, move on, as your post contributes zilch!

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Ebay in 2014 ? I do not buy anything on that website for years...

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I though the only way you can put a 'max bid' was if you bid first and either you win or lose .... but how can you bid against someone who was not there to begin with? I'm totally confused as to how this works, and how eBay allows this.

It is called automatic bidding. You can read about how it works here.

Our max bidding (also called automatic bidding) system makes bidding convenient so you don't have to keep coming back to re-bid every time someone places another bid.

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It is called automatic bidding. You can read about how it works here.

Not quite, I understand how Automatic Bidding works. In such situation, the person with that automatic bid has his/her first bid VISIBLE (not hidden).

In my specific situation, the person came out of nowhere ...

Does ebay have invisible bidders?

1. Defies any logic

2. Does not make sense

3. Unfair to other bidders.

Edited by DrJB

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Not quite, I understand how Automatic Bidding works. In such situation, the person with that automatic bid has his/her first bid VISIBLE (not hidden).

In my specific situation, the person came out of nowhere ...

Does ebay have invisible bidders?

1. Defies any logic

2. Does not make sense

3. Unfair to other bidders.

It didn't used to be like this years ago... The reason why it masks the actual bidders names is to protect them from other sellers contacting them after the auction ends(or during the auction) and doing deals off fo Ebay and possibly being scammed, not to mention Ebay wouldn't get their 10% cut of the sale...

What you are describing as far as the bidding goes, it is just that the person who keeps outbidding you has a higher Bid put in than the amount that you are bidding... They may have put an initial bid of $100 on something and every time you increase it with your bid, it will continue to go up $1 or more(This increases as the price increases) until their original amount is hit.. Once you go over their initial max bid, you will be the highest bidder...

I'm aware that eBay does not show real names ... but you can 'guess' based on the number of transactions that the eBay-er had ... and this guy came out of nowhere.

Still, does not sound right. Few times I've been outbid by a 'buyer' with zero purchase history ... but that it is clear the seller is trying to up the bids. The situation in my first bid is very different ... and not sure there is a simple explanation to it.

It very well could be a seller shill bidding his own auction up... But then again I have sold 100's of things there and have had many people with Zero feedback join up and buy(or already be a member and make their first purchase through me).. It is scary when you have a good auction running and some guy with a Zero feedback starts running your auction up.. I always check them out via P.M. and if they don't respond back in a timely fashion, I retract their bid and block them...

It's hard to determine exactly what could be happening... I've seen a lot of strange things take place at Ebay over the years...

Edited by Paul Boratko

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There is nothing wrong with ebay here, it is called proxy bidding. If I find an item and bid on it, then each time you bid, ebay automatically bids on my behalf until my maximum amount is reached.

Honestly, on ebay bidding any time other than the final few seconds of an auction makes no sense. All you'll do is drive up the price by having other people outbid you. Use a sniping program and have it bid the maximum amount you're willing to spend the last 3-4 seconds of the auction. That way no one has any time to outbid you. It's called sniping. I use this program and have had lots of success with it: http://www.jbidwatcher.com/

The golden rule of ebay is that early bidding only helps ebay by driving up the cost of the item, increasing the final value fee.

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It didn't used to be like this years ago... The reason why it masks the actual bidders names is to protect them from other sellers contacting them after the auction ends(or during the auction) and doing deals off fo Ebay and possibly being scammed, not to mention Ebay wouldn't get their 10% cut of the sale...

What you are describing as far as the bidding goes, it is just that the person who keeps outbidding you has a higher Bid put in than the amount that you are bidding... They may have put an initial bid of $100 on something and every time you increase it with your bid, it will continue to go up $1 or more(This increases as the price increases) until their original amount is hit.. Once you go over their initial max bid, you will be the highest bidder...

All of this makes sense if the person with automatic bids was there BEFORE I bid. Picture this situation:

1. There are 5 bids so far (from 5 different persons), and latest bid amount is $100.

2. I place a bid for $110

3. I get an immediate reply that I was outbid by an automatic ... and eBay suggest I increase my max bid.

4. I do not increase my bid, I simply check the latest bidder.

5. He is bidder number 7, with a higher bid tha mine, and he is not one of the early 5 bidders.

My question is: How come he outbid me if he did not submit an initial bid earlier? Was he hidden? Does eBay allow this?

eBay lets you do automatic bids ONLY if you've placed an initial bid (that initial bid SHOULD be visible).

Makes sense now?

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The invisible bidder simply bid prior to you, and placed a bid higher than all of your bids. When the original bid was placed by them, it simply showed the item was bid at the opening price.

Some auctions do not show ANY of the bidders, but otherwise they will all be shown with their hidden system g****y etc.

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What a weird threat. This is normal for ebay.

Invisible bidders are normal. Automatic bids are normal. Sniping isn't totally effective since automatic bids exist (which you do not need any 3rd party system for, you can use ebay itself to autobid).

Everything that is happening here is TOTALLY NORMAL. Ebay allows this. Bidders are hidden. This is all TOTALLY NORMAL.

The eBay users simply put what their maximum bid can be. Then no matter how often you bid, if you don't reach that maximum they put then they'll always automatically outbid you. If you're unlucky they're also sniping you just in case.

If there's an issue with the bidders looking out of order, well that's irrelevant. The winner wins. It's not like they're hacking to win with a lower bid. The highest bid wins. Also any out of order stuff might be a problem with your computer and your cookies and not eBay.

Edited by BrickG

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As has been explained, there is nothing unusual here. If you want to see the full bidding history you have to click the link to show the automatic bids - by default eBay only shows manual bids. If the first person to bid on an item enters an amount higher than the opening bid, then their first bid is an "automatic" bid and will not show on the default list.

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I reported an apparent eBay issue and everyone is 'lecturing' me this is 'normal' ... fair enough, I've done eBay for many years .. and never seen this. Yes, I do know about manual/automatic ... but it seems everyone is missing the point. I'll stop here. No, there is NOTHING wrong with my computer.

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My guess is: within the final seconds of your auction there were one or more bidders who swooped in with a higher max bid... so you lost. It's frustrating, but we've all lost auctions like that. A nice set or lot with a good price will frequently have 2-3 or more people who submit bids in the final seconds hoping to get a deal.

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If everyone is missing the point, then perhaps you should re-word your explanation?

I'm with everyone else in what it sounds like sniping, automatic bidding, etc... Those things are perfectly normal and acceptable in the world of ebay. What you are describing sounds like the person that bade on the item with a higher bid, did so before you and it just matches the current high bid.

I would think your only option is to keep looking for another item at a good price, even if it takes years and get it then. Not everyone has the luck to get cheap LEGO deals.

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After getting too upset with the quirks of e-bay, I now take a more relaxed approach. I decide how much an item is worth to me, then bid that amount within 12 hours of the close of auction. If I win, great, if not, the winner overbid, in my opinion. The reality is that I really don't need more children's building toy's anyways, so not worth getting upset about. And usually, there are less expensive sources for the same items, once the bidding gets out-of-hand.

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^Exactly. Bid what you feel comfortable spending. If it goes above that, then keep trying. I find it is the lack of patience or the competitiveness that makes you spend way more than you originally expected. I always check bricklink before I bid on ebay to see if I can get it cheaper than that. if it comes down to it, I just buy the figure from bricklink and save. Ebay tends to be more expensive than bricklink from what I've seen, outside of those good low bids you can sometimes win.

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After getting too upset with the quirks of e-bay, I now take a more relaxed approach. I decide how much an item is worth to me, then bid that amount within 12 hours of the close of auction. If I win, great, if not, the winner overbid, in my opinion. The reality is that I really don't need more children's building toy's anyways, so not worth getting upset about. And usually, there are less expensive sources for the same items, once the bidding gets out-of-hand.

Definitely the way to go. I have my own price I'm willing to pay per pound for big lots and I stick to it. I don't win every auction, but sometimes I win one for much less than my top price. It's hard to suppress the urge to win at any cost, but after doing this for several years (and collecting tens of thousands of pieces essentially for free) I know there will always be another auction to bid on.

I reported an apparent eBay issue and everyone is 'lecturing' me this is 'normal' ... fair enough, I've done eBay for many years .. and never seen this. Yes, I do know about manual/automatic ... but it seems everyone is missing the point. I'll stop here. No, there is NOTHING wrong with my computer.

I understand what you are describing and it really sounds like you are looking at the default view and not the full view of all the bids including the automatic bids. If you look at the expanded view, you will probably see the winning bidder's name earlier in the bidding.

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My guess is: within the final seconds of your auction there were one or more bidders who swooped in with a higher max bid... so you lost. It's frustrating, but we've all lost auctions like that. A nice set or lot with a good price will frequently have 2-3 or more people who submit bids in the final seconds hoping to get a deal.

I'm more relaxed now ... for sure. No, I placed my bid 7 hours before end of listing. It is very hard to 'believe' (though possible), that between the time I looked at all the bids (expanded view) and placed my bid (maybe 30 seconds), someone came in and placed higher bid ... This though has happened to me on at least 3 occasions.

I'll look more into sniping, and if 3rd party apps can do this ... then one cannot win against secret/hidden bid/bidders. It is simply not the way auctions are (supposed to be) run.

If everyone is missing the point, then perhaps you should re-word your explanation?

I'm with everyone else in what it sounds like sniping, automatic bidding, etc... Those things are perfectly normal and acceptable in the world of ebay. What you are describing sounds like the person that bade on the item with a higher bid, did so before you and it just matches the current high bid.

I would think your only option is to keep looking for another item at a good price, even if it takes years and get it then. Not everyone has the luck to get cheap LEGO deals.

Good point ... I usually tend to do my homework before coming and inquiring about a trivial issue. Though you are right, I should have stated clearly that I already have looked into all the possible/obvious reasons. It is after all, common human nature that, we often assume the person asking the questions is a newbie. My mistake, and no harm done... Cheers :)

After getting too upset with the quirks of e-bay, I now take a more relaxed approach. I decide how much an item is worth to me, then bid that amount within 12 hours of the close of auction. If I win, great, if not, the winner overbid, in my opinion. The reality is that I really don't need more children's building toy's anyways, so not worth getting upset about. And usually, there are less expensive sources for the same items, once the bidding gets out-of-hand.

Thank you for the wise words ... though somehow this bidding/winning/losing is ... a bit emotional at times. And no, I'm not a teen ... my badge should say something about my age group ... lol

^Exactly. Bid what you feel comfortable spending. If it goes above that, then keep trying. I find it is the lack of patience or the competitiveness that makes you spend way more than you originally expected. I always check bricklink before I bid on ebay to see if I can get it cheaper than that. if it comes down to it, I just buy the figure from bricklink and save. Ebay tends to be more expensive than bricklink from what I've seen, outside of those good low bids you can sometimes win.

Agreed ... this hobby has become rather very 'competitive' lately. I found the same item on Bricklink two weeks ago, good deal from the Netherlands (including shipping), and while I was in communication with the seller about shipping costs, someone from China bought it (per the seller). Somehow some aspects of this (and other hobbies) is the high tag some people are willing to pay.

Edited by DrJB

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