Is this dodgy or no ? Buyer bidding against self.

[Bahhhhhumbug]

I want to know and I have phoned Ebay and been on their community forum and still not sure if I've been had over by this buyer.

I listed an unwanted electrical item for auction for £90 starting bid. One person bid early for the £90 and then bid again and then again right at the end. On the system it says they bid £90 each time and it doesnt show any other bids or bidders. Ebay tell me that they actually bid firstly £90 then £95 then £125 but if it's the same bidder then the system actually only shows the original amount they bid as you cant bid against yourself etc. So this is why it looks like they bid £90 three times. But as it was all the same bidder I had to sell it to them for their first bid. These were not automatic bids apparently either but 'manually' placed bids

So I understand thus far but I was a bit suspicious as to why someone would bid against themselves and after they had bid their final bid of £125 what would've happened if someone had tried to bid say £115 - would their bid be rejected (and would I even know about it, if so) on the grounds the first bidder had put a higher bid in (the highest they were willing to pay obviously) knowing that as long as no other bidders came on the scene they would still get it for £90.

Ebay and the community forum keep telling me that if someone else had bid more than this bidders top bid then I would be able to see that and the bidding would automatically gone up to ask for bids over £127(or whatever).

Can you see what I'm getting at? . I think this is very crafty tactical bidding that has potentially done me out of any bids between £90 and £125. I also think it is really open to exploitation if for example I bid the opening amount on an item (say worth about £50 staring at £10) and then followed up with a ridiculous £300 bid, then I would get that item for £10 wouldnt I ? Or have I lost the plot?

.......the bidding would have automatically gone up to ask for bids over £127 (or whatever next increment is* )

You've lost the plot. Everyone else sees that top bid is £90. If someone else had bid £115, the first bidders bid would have been automatically increased to top it- I think by £1 at that level, so to £116. And the second bidder would have had the option to carry on bidding, but been automatically outbid each time until they put in a bid of over £125.

This is standard practice

Anyone looking to buy your item would have had the current bid shown as £90. Had a new bidder bid £100 then old bidder's eBay account would have automatically bid £101 and new bidder would have been invited to bid again.
It's actually good for you as a seller, it piques interest. You can see the highest bid as £125 but no buyer will have.

Beaten by TJ!

90 was the minimum so thats what the first person bid. They were willing to pay up to £125. If someone else had bid eg £105 after the first bidder had bid £125 then the second bidder would have been noted and the first bidders actual bid would be pushed up to £107 or similar.

It's an automated auction basically

oh fgs !
......the bidding would have automatically gone up to ask for bids of £127 (or whatever next increment is ) or over.

All they're doing is increasing their maximum bid (the price they want to pay).

They're not bidding against themselves, just reassessing how much they want to pay for the item in the hope it doesn't go above that price.

There's nothing wrong with that. I've done it a few times. Sometime i just put a starting bid on to make sure it doesn't get sold as a 'Buy it Now' as once there's a bid on an item the seller can't add a BIN price.

The buyer wasn't bidding against themselves, they simply increased the amount they were willing to pay for your item.

would their bid be rejected (and would I even know about it, if so) on the grounds the first bidder had put a higher bid in (the highest they were willing to pay obviously) knowing that as long as no other bidders came on the scene they would still get it for £90. yes, that is correct. And that's how it works.

This is not dodgy, you've just misunderstood how bidding works.

Imagine they have a friend who is watching the auction 24/7. They've said to their friend "I'm willing to pay up to £125. Start with £90 and outbid anyone else above that point until £125".

That's basically what happened, except it was the computer, not a friend

You've lost the plot. As the previous posters have tried to explain, the buyer was not bidding against themselves, they were simply increasing their maximum bid. Absolutely standard and expected.

Buyer sees item which looks like a bargain. They bid £90. Then they go away and think about it a bit and realise they really don't want it to get away and bid £115 then later £125. I've done that myself. But nobody else bids so it goes for £90.

Not sure what you've got a bee in your bonnet about. Do you understand how eBay works?

Scribble girl's example is correct

Nothing dodgy has gone on at all :)

Ah right thank you - so I've not been done out of any 'middle' bids then . See it was the automated vs manual bids that was throwing me. I thought because the one (and only) bidder had placed a 'manual' bid for £125 then anyone trying to bid say £110 would have been rejected. I understand that's how it works with automatic bidding that the system only ups your bid when a competing bid comes in and then only up to next increment up to your limit. But as this bidder actually placed their highest bid I thought the system would accept it as an actual bid and anything below it wouldnt be accepted and the system would advise any subsequent bidders they need to go to next amount above £125.
I think I and anyone been reading this thread need to go and lie down in a darkened room now.

I still dont understand why the buyer didnt just do automated bets up to his limit. Oh well , I'll take mi cynical suspicious goggles off now.

It would definitely have shown you if a second bidder had placed bids too, even if they were automatic it would have shown them. and it would have shown the automatic bids from the first bidder too if that makes sense?

He did do automated bids up to his limit - you can't do anything else on eBay auctions.

What he did with the manual bids is to increase the amount his automated bids could go up to. He was keen to have the item.

You only acheived the lowest bid of £90 because you only had one bidder. If there had been another bidder willing to pay more than £90 then the auction would have gone up to reflect that.

bids even

Ahh I see HappyAs . This is what was confusing me. I know how automated bids up to a limit, work but the Ebay helpline man definitely told me no it wasnt automated bids :/ So that's when I thought 'eh' I thought he had actually placed these bids rather than just upped his limit. Happy now , thanks all.