hesc_photonics ebay trick!

[LuxIgnis]

Hello,
I wanted to point out a trick that mr Chris uses on ebay. Since I bought already 4 items from him. Basically what he does is use a different ebay nick to outbid you if he doesn't like the price an item is going for. In the past when I wanted an item from ebay, and the end time is like 4 or 5 o clock in the morning I do an automatic bid with a pretty high max bid, so high that it's a bit above what I want to spend for the item. This way I normally win the item at a lower price then my maximum. In 3 of the 4 items I bought from Chris, someoone at the last minute placed a huge bid and won the Item. The item then got reoffered to me with a second chance offer at my maximum bid price. That's is not what I consider fair beaviour even if the system actually allows such loop, and a vendor is taking advantage of it.
I will still buy stuff from Chris, and so should you, just be careful and don't offer maximum bids, because you are absolutely sure that he's gonna max out your max bid. Instead bid 1$ at a time to try and win the item, or make a rather conservative maximum bid. From now on I will do just that.
Regards!

 

[Flaminpyro]

Thanks for posting this it sheds a little more light on the subject !

Pyro...

 

[moninosis]

always use a sniper

my absolute favorite is gixen.com

 

[LuxIgnis]

Yes, it does, if you read his feedbacks from the last 30 days,
75% of his items have all been won by the same guy , it' him on a different nick, or one of his friends. Of course this means that the feedbacks are skewed as well, because 75% of the feedback is from fake buyers, who then retract the bid, so he can offer at the maximum bid of the secon higher bidder.
That's shill selling. I understood the trick, and this trick cost me at least 40$ in terms of higher prices compared to legitimate bidding. From now on I will just be careful and put in low offers, I don't care if I lose the item. Someone can play me once, can play me twice, but not the third time.

 

[Mohrenberg]

 

[LuxIgnis]

well, lesson is learned, but in the long run, I don't think it will benefit him if people just complain about it on forums.
The crazy thing is that 98% positive feedback would go down to 70% if he didn't give himself positive feedback on more then half of the transactions.

 

[daguin]

Report your suspicions to eBay. Shill bidding is against the rules.

Peace,
dave

 

[Nefarious]

thats really not cool... I'd report it to Ebay

 

[lasersbee]

Yeah.... The BEST and ONLY way to stop this is to report it to eBay..

You can go to this page (near the bottom is a Report link)...

Shill bidding policy

or

How do I contact Customer Support by eMail, Live Help or phone?

There is also a Customer Support phone number but I can't find it off hand..


Jerry

 

[LuxIgnis]

Hello, If I weren't waiting for the goods to arrive I'd probably do just that, but in this case, I will be careful and not take action. I just want him to know that I know, and to be careful with it. I want to bid against other buyers not against him. Also an apology would be appreciated.

 

[HIMNL9]

This is a trick that never work, if any user do as me ..... i have limited funds, so, if i see on ebay (from any seller) a thing i need, i only place a bid for the money i evaluate the object as an honest price, or if it's not a need, but just a curiosity, for the minimum bid available at the moment, if i can afford it ..... no matter if i want it or not, the bid i place, is the only bid i place, and if it become outbid, i just drop it. Period.

 

[LuxIgnis]

Well the thing is that it's not just the shill bidding, for example you see an Item that you valuate max at $10 and you place a $10 bid.

The item so far has only a 2$ bid, and you are the high bidder.

The seller in this case at the last minute places a 15$ bid to win the item.
Then he retreats the bid, so a second chance offer is sent to you, not for the 2$ (the price you should win the auction at), but at 10$ , the max you will buy the object for.
That isn't fair.
Just 'cause you are willing to spend 10$, it doesn't mean that you should not get a very good deal from time to time if there is no interest from other bidders. In my case the seller has done just that. A nice Cylinder lens that I have "appraised" at max 31$ was selling at 17$. I should have won with 18$-21$ max because there were no other bids, then Chris comes along at the last moment logs into his other account and makes a bid for 46$, 2 minutes later he leaves himself good feedback, then retreats the bid, and a secon chance offer is sent to me for 31$.
So the trick works either way.

 

[HIMNL9]

But in this case, i never accept second offers ..... like, if i decide that i'm curious (or just want it) about an item, and i have a maximum money of 10, i can start to bid at 2, and maybe go for 4, in exceptional cases, 6, but if at the last minute it become outbid, and i receive a second offer in the next 48 hours, i just ignore it ..... no matter if i'm still curious to have this item, and if the second offer is the same of my last bid, it's just a principle that i always apply on any ebay transaction, just for "fool away" those types of sellers.

Only if the item is not for me, and the person that have asked me to buy it decide that HE want to accept the second offer, i can do this, but this happened just a pair of times, til now ..... never when the item is for me, no exceptions.

And before you ask, yes, i have lost some possible good deals, with this system, and i'm still waiting that an item that i want to try become available again (and being ebay that what is, first or after it happens ), but i don't care ..... it's a principle that i've decided to follow, and i do this ..... nothing more, nothing less.

 

[Tech_Junkie]

Dont complain if you're not going to take action and report it. You are letting others get screwed, and that's almost as worst as Chris out bidding you.

 

[LuxIgnis]

Well, I did report to Ebay, and Ebay said it does look suspicious, but only 4 items is not enough "evidence" they said it would take at least 2 or 3 buyers with several auctions each to be enough evidence.
I don't think they have investigated enough, because it's clear that there is something weird about his auctions and his feedback ratings. Also reading the feedbacks he creates different accounts pretty often to avoid suspicion.
But at every group of auction every 10 days or so, there is one and only one account that wins 75% of his items.
I guess, he is doing it in a smart way, not abusing it in a silly way.

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

Thanks for the info on this. I've never had Chris do this to me but I now suspect a couple other auctions where I got a second chance.
A good head's up to all.

HMike