Bidding on Springy on eBay closed early

[Anonymous]

I was bidding on the following item:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330155671731&sspagename=ADME:X:AAQ:UK:11

It looked to me like a nice Springy. The starting price was ?399, so I bid, and until today (when the item was due to close at 21.55) I was the only bidder. Then something very suspicious happened. At 12.35 a second bidder raised the price to ?409. Fair enough I thought, I'll place a higher bid later. But 2 minutes later, the seller closed the auction to sell to the second bidder at ?409. This was around 10 hours early. The person who he sold to has zero feedback, whereas I have a good feedback record that is 100% positive. Why would a seller do that, unless there was something funny going on?

I e.mailed the seller, but he hasn't replied. Does this sound suspicious to anyone else? And is the seller allowed to do this? I'm wondering if the buyer offered the seller more money, but outside of eBay to save fees. It seems to me there must have been a reason for this - or why else would the seller do himself out of the extra money he undoubtedly would have got in the last hour of bidding?

I'm annoyed by this. :evil: Does anyone have any views on this? Or have you seen this happen before?

 

[andyscott]

"No Zero Bidders"....well, except for the zero bidder who bought it, eh.

 

[MIJvintage]

when you see this on an eBay listing "The seller ended this listing early to sell to the high bidder(s) at current bid price" that means that the seller & the buyer have made an agreement, within the rules of eBay, and they will both be bound to the transaction, and will both be able to leave feedback for each other.

Now, just because the price is showing X amount, does not necessarily mean that the ending price is the actual price agreed upon, by the parties involved.

As a seller, I have done the same thing; it may not be 'fair' but that's business.............

 

[Anonymous]

So it doesn't strike you as suspicious that he sold to a zero bidder less than 3 minutes after he placed a bid? This stinks :evil:

An auction is an auction. If that is allowed under eBay rules, there is something very wrong with eBay rules. And I'm surprised to hear that a reputable dealer like yourself would get involved with such practices.

I feel cheated, and I'm still convinced it's a scam :evil:

 

[MIJvintage]

see this link.........

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/end_early.html

To end your listing early:

1. Type your item number into the End My Listing Early form. (You can get this number on your listing View Item Page, on your confirmation email, or on your My eBay page.)

2. If there are bids on your item, choose between:
Cancel bids and end listing early or Sell item to high bidder(s) and end listing early

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is a feature that eBay has provided for sellers, and I'm sure that some potential buyers hate it

 

[Ducati]

It may be annoying but you can't control it and there is no way to change it.

Sellers are always wanting to sell an item and get good money for it. Buyers are always looking to pay less and get more... everyone has their own personal set of rules about how they buy and sell so you just have to be prepared for anything until the goods or money are safely in your house!

 

[MIJvintage]

It may be annoying but you can't control it and there is no way to change it.

Sellers are always wanting to sell an item and get good money for it. Buyers are always looking to pay less and get more... everyone has their own personal set of rules about how they buy and sell so you just have to be prepared for anything until the goods or money are safely in your house!

very well said............ 8)

 

[Rossi]

I think the seller was bidding it up himself to see how high the first bid was,when he found out it hadnt moved up much he then did what he did,because with 12 hours or less left you cant end it with bids on.Ive looked at the so called highest bidder and No feedback + hes been on ebay since Nov 05 his name is NoTone.Hes probably done it loads of times to himself in nearly 2 years.

Hey but i could be wrong :roll:

But thats E-Bay for you :wink:

 

[MIJvintage]

I think the seller was bidding it up himself to see how high the first bid was,when he found out it hadnt moved up much he then did what he did,because with 12 hours or less left you cant end it with bids on.Ive looked at the so called highest bidder and No feedback + hes been on ebay since Nov 05 his name is NoTone.Hes probably done it loads of times to himself in nearly 2 years.

Hey but i could be wrong :roll:

But thats E-Bay for you :wink:

IF what you say is true, that would be a case of 'shill' bidding, which is expressly against eBay policy.
eBay has a policy of banning members that have been caught shill bidding.

 

[modland]

It might be that mister 0 feedback offered the owner a fair bit of money to end it early, and kept it through ebay by putting a big bid in and the seller ended it just so you dont keep bidding, i know that does happen, but there is the chance that it could be bidding up

 

[settebello]

+1 Rossi

Volker

 

[Ducati]

IF what you say is true, that would be a case of 'shill' bidding, which is expressly against eBay policy.
eBay has a policy of banning members that have been caught shill bidding.

Those may be the rules but I don't think I've ever heard of anyone actually being investigated/punished.

0 feedback buyers do buy stuff sometimes! It might look suspicious sometimes but unless you are the seller or the buyer, you really won't know. Playing amateur detective will only raise your blood pressure!

 

[MIJvintage]

I've actually had several eBay listings in which 0 feedback bidders won; most of them paid but 1 or 2 did not

I sold a pristine Tokai CE-500 to a very nice guy in Sweden, nearly 2 years ago, and it's still his only feedback

 

[Anonymous]

The seller replied to me and said "hi, sorry about that but I couldn't resist the offer, basically I've agreed a part-ex deal, the buyer lives nearby and offered ?409.00 cash + a wah pedal so sorry for not letting the auction run.."

It's strange, because I feel conned, and yet he's probably conned himself as I would have probably have bid more than ?409 + a wah pedal.

It's not fair! :evil:

All this fuss for a 60s replica Strat, with the wrong type of scratchplate, and the wrong type of truss rod fillet (or whatever you call it)! No wonder they say guitarists are a funny lot. :lol: