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eBay

If you buy or sell items on eBay, you will find tips and advice on this forum.

Original poster

Can sellers bid on the stuff they are selling to bump up the price?

33 replies

NickRobinsonsloveslave · 27/08/2011 21:09

Cos I'm sure this has happened to me.

OP posts:
DooinMeCleanin · 27/08/2011 21:13

They can if they have access to more than one ebay account, but they shouldn't and get slapped wrists if they get caught.

If you suspect it, report it to Ebay and they'll investigate it.

Sarsaparilllla · 27/08/2011 21:19

They can't from the same account but yes, if they have access to another account they could do, or get someone they know to up the bids

What makes you think this has happened?

Original poster
NickRobinsonsloveslave · 27/08/2011 21:23

Because as soon as I up my bid the very next second it goes up again. It just seems really strange to me, or maybe this is normal activity on ebay. I am, after all, an ebay virgin.

In the last 2 days I have lost out at the very last second 7 times.

OP posts:
caughtinanet · 27/08/2011 21:26

Is it always the same bidder bidding against you? Won't it just be that they have put their maximum bid in and the system is automatically upping it when you bid ?

You used to be able to see automatic bids, not sure it you can still do that.

RedBlanket · 27/08/2011 21:27

Bidding on your own stuff to bump the price is called shill bidding and it's not allowed.
This just sounds like normal bidding tbh, the idea is not to actually win

nickschick · 27/08/2011 21:28

If someone has placed a higher bid then it only goes up to just above the last bid until someone else bids ...HmmConfused

item c bids start at 99p

mrs a bids £3

Bid stands with mrs a @ 99p

mr b bids £1.50

winning bid is now £1.50 but Mrs A is the top bidder

mr b bids £3.20 hes outbid Mrs a so hes top bidder.

have I confused you now?

caughtinanet · 27/08/2011 21:28

Also, losing out at the last second won't be the seller, it will be automatic sniping bids - I don't know exactly how this works but there are ways to set your bid up so it is automatically entered at the last second to stop anyone else bidding against you.

dizzyday07 · 27/08/2011 21:38

If you look at the bidding history it gives the times the bids were made. If their date/time is before the time now (say yesterday)- it means they put a top bid that you haven't reached yet

exexpat · 27/08/2011 21:39

The bids appearing the second after your bid are not the seller - they are just the way the ebay system works. It just means the previous bidder has already input a higher maximum bid than you, and automatically outbids you - as nickchick said, except that if you, for example, bid £1.50 on something, but a previous bidder had put in a maximum bid of say, £5, their bid would appear a second after yours as £1.70. If you then bid £1.90, a second later, their bid would be £2.10 etc etc until you reached their maximum bid.

The ones who come in at the last second are sniper bids - there are automatic sites that do this for you, but I always do my own sniping. It is the one way to give yourself a good chance of winning something you really want - bid once, bid late (last 20-30 seconds of the auction) and bid as high as you are really prepared to pay.

It takes a while to get the hang of ebay, but this is all perfectly normal. There are some sellers who do shill bidding, but what you describe doesn't sound like that.

alemci · 27/08/2011 21:40

people may ask their friends or relatives to put a bid on if they want a particular price. I am sure this is common place on ebay.

ballstoit · 27/08/2011 21:47

I do snipe bidding as well, this sounds like auto system bidding to other buyers maximum bid, rather than anything dodgy.

I have once asked a family member to bid, when I forgot to put a reserve on and it was too late to do anything else Blush.

Original poster
NickRobinsonsloveslave · 27/08/2011 21:48

Shit, I give up. Just lost out again. I have managed to buy nothing from ebay so far!

OP posts:
caughtinanet · 27/08/2011 21:51

What sort of stuff are you bidding on? The best thing to do it bid your absolute maximum at any time before the auction ends and if you still get outbid its because someone bid higher than your maximum rather than that they've used any kind of tactic. If two bidders bid the same maximum the earliest one gets it afaik so you should get what you need eventually.

Ponders · 27/08/2011 21:57

once you have placed a bid, if someone outbids you ebay send you an email to let you know, don't they? so it could be a genuine other bidder who is reacting to the emails they are sent following your bids.

what I always try to do, if I'm going to be around at the finish, is not bid at all until there's just 10-15 seconds to go (to avoid encouraging others to outbid me!)

like exexpat in fact Smile

there are a lot of people though who will start bidding up with 10-15 minutes to go, & often it shoots up at that point Hmm

ballstoit · 27/08/2011 22:09

If it's something big, for example I'm trying to get a bed at the mo, I'll look for ones that finish early in the morning for a few weeks. Then snipe bid at the last minute (set my alarm to get up in time if I have to!).

If that's not working, which it hasnt so far, then I decide what's the most I want to pay for one. My bed will be £350 new, with the bits with it, so the most I want to pay is £90-100 for a second hand, less if it has any damage. I want it to be close enough to ask BIL or friend's DH to collect, so no more than an hours drive. So, whenever I see one which fits what I'm looking for I'll put a maximum bid of £90 on auto bid. That doesnt mean it'll bid staright away for that, just that I'll outbid anyone else until they get to £90.

To get real bargains on Ebay, patience is needed...you'll get there, just keep trying.

I've just got 2 leather sofas for £40, it's taken about 4 months to get what I wanted, at the right price and right distance, but I am so chuffed with them and my bargain, that it's worth the wait. I'm so boring Grin

Billmelater · 28/08/2011 01:29

I think there's no point in bidding before the last 10 - 15 seconds of an auction. Then, as exexpat said, bid your absolute maximum. So an item is going for 99p, and with 20 seconds to go there are no bidders. If you're willing to pay £12, bid that. You'll still only pay 99p if there really are other bidders; if others are sniping you may well outbid them; and if you still lose, you'll know it went for more than it's worth to you.

Tell us when you win!!!

Poshbaggirl · 28/08/2011 04:18

Its automatic bidding. Like all things you have to be clued up to win.

I wanted a caravan on ebay. The most i could go to was £1100. The bidding was going up slowly at £10/20 a time. So i knew these two bidders were adding new bids each time, bit by bit, like you do. Till it got to £840. With 10 seconds to go i put my maximum bid of £1100 in and won it for £860. If they had had a max bid of £1500, they'd have got it for one bid over my max. But they hadnt put a max in, but were going up a bit at a time. After doing my bid at the last min (sniping) they didnt have a chance to bid £880.
do you understand sniping now?
I was risking having to pay £1100, but bet they didnt have an automatic max bid on. Thats why a max bid has to be what you really are prepared to pay.

FlyMeToTheMooncup · 28/08/2011 07:27

Ah don't worry about that - it confused me when I was an eBay newbie too :)

When you bid, you can place your maximum bid, ie the highest you are willing to go. It's not like a real live auction where you just keep bidding until you give up.

So if something starts at £1, John Smith might think "I really want that item, I'm willing to pay £10 max" and place a bid of £10. However they won't necessarily have to pay that much - if nobody else bids at all, then John only has to pay the starting price of £1.

Then say YOU see the item, and see that the current bid is still £1. You think "ooh that's quite nice" and bid £2. However as John has already placed a higher bid, eBay automatically outbids you on his behalf, and will put the next highest bid (I think they have set intervals depending on the amount, so it would go to £2.20).

So it'd say to you "you've been outbid" and you put £2.40, and again because John has set his maximum to £10, eBay will automatically outbid you at £2.60. If you then give up, John will have to pay £2.60.

It isn't actually that somebody is sitting there pouncing instantly IYSWIM, even though it feels like it.

Does that make sense? :)

FlyMeToTheMooncup · 28/08/2011 07:29

I'm quite a good sniper. The watch list is a very useful thing, and I usually don't bid on anything until the last minute. Although the stuff I buy is usually under a tenner - not up to caravan standard yet :o

FlyMeToTheMooncup · 28/08/2011 07:33

We are selling a coin on eBay which ends tonight - our first round of selling as we had a free listing thing last weekend. It's had a few bids and is already a great price (even after the final value fee) BUT there are 14 watchers so we are really hoping there will be a last minute bidding war. So exciting :o

Poshbaggirl · 28/08/2011 08:53

The caravan is the only thing i've ever bought on ebay. My heart was thumping like mad as the seconds ticked down in the last minute.

Worth also pointing out to OP, that i didnt want to bid in little bids because i'd have been responsible for putting the price up. The idea is to outbid in the last few seconds so the other bidders cant keep chipping in.

LoveBeingAtHomeOnMyOwn · 28/08/2011 09:02

If you've got an iPhone the eBay app is fab cause it alerts you 15 mins before anything in your watch lists finishs.

FlyMeToTheMooncup · 28/08/2011 10:34

I love the iPhone app :) DH has the blackberry one which isn't quite so good so he prefers using the computer.

I just sold my first item. For £2.32 :o it's a little book, I wasn't expecting it to go that high.

Hope your caravan is nice! :)

caughtinanet · 28/08/2011 11:31

Billmelater - if you're bidding your maximum it doesn't matter when you do it. Someone may bid higher that you, they may not - why go to all of the hassle of sitting and waiting for the final few seconds and running the risk of missing out and the end result will be the same.

fergoose · 28/08/2011 11:41

most people generally say bid once, bid your highest and bid as late as you can

once you are more confident you can bid in the last few seconds (I try for 5 or less now) - otherwise use a sniper like goofbay to place your bid for you in the last few seconds

if you bid too early, you risk bumping the price right up, starting a bidding war and making the item look more interesting and attract more bidders

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