[Rachel]

Australia now as well.

The only way to stop these sellers is to keep our eyes peeled and talk to each other about anything looking suspicious. Keep any eye on bid histories and feedbacks and if you think things look dodgy either post it here or PM the info around.

If a seller is honest they have nothing to worry about. We were accused of shill bidding a few years ago when some newbies were going nuts. I knew all along we had nothing to hide and it all got sorted very quickly when the newbies started buying from other sellers.

If we can make sellers aware that we are onto them hopefully they should stop any dubious activity quickly.

[Fram]

On a related note: is it legal (eBay allowed) for a seller to start a sale with a price of 1 Euro, no minimum price, but to say in the description that if the price hasn't reached 150 Euro half an hour before the end, he will withdraw the auction? I don't think eBay will like this kind of behaviour, and I certainly don't as a buyer either!

[Rachel]

Hi Fram, I don't think that is allowed. Afterall, the seller should either put a reserve on it or if they can't, start it at a price they are happy selling it for.

From personal experience, yes there are the very occassional bargins out there but normally an item will reach a relative value if described correctly.

[Fram]

That's what I thought. But part of the fun / risk of eBay (or auctions overall) is that if you aren't willing to pay the price of a high starting price / minimum price, you are running the risk of selling cheap. For a buyer, you take the risk of bidding low and getting nothing. This seller seems to want to have the best of both worlds. Perhaps I should report him to eBay...

[Bunno Smurf]

Hi Fram,

I'd definitely report it. Basically they're avoiding paying a higher lisitng fee because they're starting the auction cheaper. Ebay will not like that I am sure.


Just on the previous post about that seller I was concerned about. I checked the bid histories of all the bidders who had under 3 feedbacks and surprise surprise two of them had ONLY bid on items from that seller in the last 30 days and the other one's majority of bids were for that seller also.

[DrunkSmurf]

From personal experience, yes there are the very occassional bargins out there but normally an item will reach a relative value if described correctly.

Which brings Professor Drunksmurf to the question: Is the Smurf market an efficient market? In a forum with perfectly-available information and a perfectly fluid medium of capital, will Smurf A reach price parity after N number of auctions? [Er, uh, joke from finance class in college...].

But seriously, sometimes I wonder if the "smurf pirates" are struggling with mental conditions? I mean, smurfs just don't command a high-enough price at a high-enough volume--even through deception--to finance any self-sufficient lifestyle. I mean, maybe you snare $50 here, or $20 there--unless you sell 10,000 flirty smurfettes with the fake red dress a year at $14/pop, you won't be paying the rent. None of these fellows are racking that sort of volume.

It's side-income--not like selling forgeries of the Mona Lisa. I bet it's a deviant thrill--or else the hucksters just aren't bright enough to do the math....

Well, maybe I'm not bright enough to do the math.....

[Guest]

Yes there are some pretty crazy people out there, but I guess for some struggling people it is an easy way to make a quick buck. Rachel has proved just how easy it is to create your very own rare variation.

The shill bidding that is going on is absolutely disgusting. People should be very suspicious when they are bid up on an auction by someone with hidden feedback.

I've just added this page to my website, it needs tidying up but the text is there at least.

http://www.kittyscavern.com/smurfs_ebay.htm

I am thinking of sending a link to it out with all my emails to ebay customers to make them aware of what is going on. A new customer of mine is bidding on a UK auction where she is being shill bidded up. Why can't sellers just put a start price they are happy with? Oh yes I remember, they can circumvent ebay fees by starting at a lower price. Talk about a rip off!!!!!!