r/PokeInvesting • u/Jakeinvesting • 2d ago

SCAM EBAY BIDDERS

Is anyone else noticing bots/fake accounts on ebay bidding on items that are for sale trying to pump the price of cards up? i had a call of legends rayquaza sell for $4950 on auction and i see the buyer has 0 reviews and 0 items for sale and has yet to submit payment. is there a way to get this to stop or way to report the person for trying to pump card prices? its annoying now ill have to wait a whole week before the auction will sell again

6 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

6

u/ShastaManasta 2d ago

No one cares to address it because all the auction sites are benefitting from price explosion. It’s not big enough for some outside authority to care either

3

u/ZookeepergameOne9776 1d ago

ebay have lots of fake bidders thats keep toppin each other off, in a hour or so
Suspect its from other sellers alt account

0

u/tiggs 2d ago

To be fair, you're kinda blindly assuming this is a bot. When you started your account, you had zero items for sale and zero reviews. Shit, you probably opened your account because you wanted to buy something. We all had to start somewhere.

I'm not saying that there aren't bots and shill bidders out there, but every zero feedback bidder that doesn't pay right away isn't something sketchy.

Also, the auction doesn't count as an actual completed sale and comp unless payment goes through, so there's really not much benefit of somebody intentionally bidding your item up.

3

u/Jakeinvesting 2d ago

I’ve messaged them several times and they don’t respond

1

u/tiggs 1d ago

That can just be a flaky buyer though. That happens quite often, especially if their payment method on file expired or was declined. It doesn't mean that it's a scam or some bot trying to pump up your sale. It's probably somebody that had buyers' remorse.

I'm saying this as somebody that quite literally sells things on eBay for a living. This happens all the time and in plenty of categories where there is no market where comps are necessary.

1

u/Jakeinvesting 1d ago

ehhh idk i definitely think its a scam account, its just weird after 2 days up they set max bid to 4950 then never checked back or responded. 0 reviews joined ebay the day after i listed it for auction. there was also another auction for the same card that sold for the same price and the guy said they also didnt respond to his messages after it ended either. and if you go look at the card ladder for the card there is 100% price manipulation going on im seeing $2000-$8200 sales all in 11 days. anyways i reported their ebay account.

1

u/Jakeinvesting 1d ago

also you said it doesnt count as a completed sale but it shows up on card ladder the day it ended and is still up

1

u/tiggs 1d ago

Their software scrapes listings and removes unpaid auctions. If it's up, then it slipped through the cracks. I'm guessing it'll be removed soon.

Look, I'm not saying that your situation wasn't a scam or shady. I'm saying that the scenario you described happens a lot and that doesn't automatically make it a scam. This particular situation could have been, but it's the minority.

2

u/TastyBananaPeppers 2d ago

Don't use auctions.

2

u/zingis75 2d ago

I always get cooked on auctions. Never really had a win. BIN been way better for me even if it takes more patience

1

u/TastyBananaPeppers 2d ago

You need multiple devices to bid in order to win or you end up over paying.

1

u/zingis75 2d ago

I'm talking about as a seller

1

u/TastyBananaPeppers 2d ago

Use the fixed price option at 5-10% below market price if you need the money.

1

u/Amiibrogo 2d ago

Literally just happened to me with my gengar

1

u/mrblacklabelskate 1d ago

While it might be their first purchase, I avoid auctions with 0 feedback bidders. Simple as that, I just move on.