8 EBay Sellers Admit to Phony Bids
Now from time to time I use eBay to alleviate some financial stress in my life while also freeing up some space taken up by junk laying around the house. I also always seem to sell on the lower end of the pricing totem pole for the things that I sell (example: if an iBook sells last week for $800 then my auction for an identical machine WITH EXTRAS will sell for $650 to 700 more then likely). I’ve always wondered why this phenomenon seems to afflict me. Now I think I know why.
Don’t get me wrong, from time to time I’ve been tempted to ask a friend or loved one to at least bid on my item to jack it up a few more dollars. This little act, however, is called Shill Bidding and is not allowed. My wife, who has over 300 feedbacks on eBay, is also an eBay purist and would probably report me in a heart beat.
At least it is good to know that they do actively go after shill bidders so I won’t have to worry about nor be tempted to have shill bids placed on items.
Isn’t it also amazing the way that eBay has transformed the online market place? I love the way I can find any random piece of crap in my garage, list it on eBay, and sure enough there is someone actually willing to buy the damn thing! Ain’t that a hoot?
-WW