Ebay bid shilling WTF!

[jtw3036]

I have made to two unsuccessful attempts to win this Kiton suit from this same Ebay seller.

EBAY #110000793267

EBAY#110007285822

Now the third time around!

EBAY #120010843660

Do you think this might be a case of bid shilling?

While I want to report this, I doubt seriously Ebay would intervene. Anyway, I figured instead I would pass along my findings to everyone here.

 

[grimslade]

Certainly seems that way.

 

[lee_44106]

Wow, this "paulmalocher" guy must be in some real need for size 40R Kiton linen suits! Obviously a case of bid shilling. It does not hurt to report to Ebay. They may do something, and you may be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Get Smart]

paulmalocher must really want a lot of kiton suits.

were you the next highest bidder? if so, did you receive a message saying "the winner backed out of the auction so I'm offering this to you at the next highest price"....if so, yea I'd say there's some shilling going on.

if not, could be legit.

The real question is are those real Kitons? He sure seems to have a bunch in the same size.

also odd is paulmalocher has been a member for 2 years and has only 1 feedback from this particular seller???

 

[EL72]

While it's odd this guy would bid on all those Kiton suits, it's not clear to me he's a shill bidder. Why would the seller let him win the auctions? He then has to pay all the eBay fees (for $1,000 items no less) and no real sale to recoup costs. Why would he not simply put a reserve price then if he's just using the shill to get above a threshold price.

Not to dissuade you, but I have reported shill bidders before with not much success/response from eBay other than the usual form email. I also hate it that you can't look up a bidder's bidding history for Europeans because of their damn privacy laws. This is usually how I can discover shill bidders when they bod on very different things and in different sizes from the same sellers all the time and never win (or retract bids a lot), though the more astute cheaters are able to conceal this better by bidding on stuff from other sellers.

 

[lawyerdad]

Slightly OT but not entirely: am I correct that ebay does not have a function that lets you block listings from particular sellers? One of the annoying things about ebay is the ability of sellers to undermine the search function by throwing in terms that don't relate directly to their product. One common example would be to put "Just like Kiton" in the description. I would find it useful - or at least satisfying - if by checking a box I could exclude any listings from sellers I have decided are not credible, trustworthy, or just worth dealing with.

 

[thinman]

I've noticed this seller's merchandise on ebay and it seems he starts the bidding high enough that he doesn't need a shill. Not to say that isn't what's happening. It certainly looks suspicious.

 

[zjpj83]

Originally Posted by EL72

While it's odd this guy would bid on all those Kiton suits, it's not clear to me he's a shill bidder. Why would the seller let him win the auctions? He then has to pay all the eBay fees (for $1,000 items no less) and no real sale to recoup costs. Why would he not simply put a reserve price then if he's just using the shill to get above a threshold price.

Not to dissuade you, but I have reported shill bidders before with not much success/response from eBay other than the usual form email. I also hate it that you can't look up a bidder's bidding history for Europeans because of their damn privacy laws. This is usually how I can discover shill bidders when they bod on very different things and in different sizes from the same sellers all the time and never win (or retract bids a lot), though the more astute cheaters are able to conceal this better by bidding on stuff from other sellers.
Not if he then reports this "other buyer" account hasn't paid - then he gets everything refunded. Once Ebay kicks his shill bidding account offline, he'll just start a new one.

 

[zjpj83]

I just reported all three, thanks for the heads up

 

[EL72]

Originally Posted by zjpj83

Not if he then reports this "other buyer" account hasn't paid - then he gets everything refunded. Once Ebay kicks his shill bidding account offline, he'll just start a new one.

Yes, but it seems to me a shill bidder is used to increase the other bids to their maximum, while still selling the item to another buyer. What's the point of going through all that and not sell the item? Unless, there were second chance offers made...

 

[Get Smart]

Originally Posted by EL72

Unless, there were second chance offers made...


exactly....that happened to my gf.....she was bidding on a pricey esoteric item that was unlikely to have any other bids, she had a proxy in $50 higher, a last minute bidder won in the final 5 secs (who it turns out was a zero feedback bidder and made her prfile about 10 min before the auction ended)....it all seemed fishy, then sho nuff we get an email from the seller less than a day later saying the winner backed out and we could have it for the proxy bid we put in. Needless to say, we decline the offer.....then saw her relist it the next week at the same opening price, and won it at that point with no more shill bidding on her part.

 

[zjpj83]

First of all, the guy is an idiot. If you want to shill bid, you make it a private auction. Like watch sellers Astorlive and Aikcorp always do. Can't tell you how many "Second chance offers" I've gotten from them.

 

[jtw3036]

I also hate it that you can't look up a bidder's bidding history for Europeans because of their damn privacy laws. This is usually how I can discover shill bidders when they bod on very different things and in different sizes from the same sellers all the time and never win

You are correct but you can look up the sellers completed listings.

EBAY COMPLETED AUCTIONS

It looks like paulmalocher bid on a Kiton shirt in size 17 to go with his size 40 Kiton suit.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=120003850351

 

[edmorel]

I think I've bought something from this guy and I think Paul Malocher and Krawattenprofi are one in the same!

 

[Carlo]

If you report it, Ebay will check the IP of the bidder and seller to compare... so, if it is obvious for the IT guys they will nail him.

Otherwise it's hard to say - I can't search on his bid history because of Euro privacy laws.