Ebay "second chance" scam
This isn't the first time, and won't be the last, but this happens enough to make mention of it.
When you bid on an auction, and lose it, but then get a second-chance offer by the seller, claiming that the winner didn't pay... if the offer is at your maximum-bid price instead of what you would have won it at now that the winner's bid is void, it indicates shill bidding by someone they know, to get more for their item. (shill bidding are bids by that person on a different account, or a friend, to bump up a final bid price... and if it goes over the price of the legit bidder, a second-chance offer is sent out at their maximum bid amount)
So even if it wasn't shill bidding, if the winner is a deadbeat bidder, their bid is void. Remove that deadbeat bidder from the bid history listing, and the true winner would have won it at a dollar above the next highest bidder, not at their maximum. If the seller was honourable, they would concede that "legit" winning bid amount and offer the item at that price... NOT at their maximum bid amount, just because it was the amount the winner was willing to pay.
But that's the point of bidding - to get something cheaper than the maximum we are willing to pay... or else we'd just find a "buy it now" item and be done with it. To win something for less than your maximum is the bonus element of bidding, so to have someone cheat with shill-bidding, or take advantage of an actual deadbeat bidder, is something that I'm not impressed with, or accept.
About 8 years ago, before Ebay started hiding usernames, it was easy to prove shill bidding, because I was bidding on a rare Transformers toy that was mispelt in the title... so as expected, I was winning at a really great price, until the last day, and someone outbid me. I didn't think much of it until I got a second-chance offer for my maximum (which was over $100 more than what I would have won it at, if the winner's bid was void). I asked why he was asking for my maximum instead of what I would have won it at, and he refused to respond, and then blocked me from bidding on the relisted item. Looking at his other auctions, the same bidder was bumping up his other auctions, even after the one I bid on, so since he didn't block him (but blocked me instead), it was obvious that was a shill/second-chance bid scam.
That was the one I remember most because it was a toy I really wanted, and I've had a few since then (including a Motorvator from New Zealand that I also really wanted)... but this is one from today.
I bid on this item at $55, and I wasn't really fussed about getting it. I actually forgot that I even bid on it until tonight when I got a second chance offer for $55 (I haven't checked my email for a few days).
I had a look at the bid history, and if the winning bidder was a deadbeat (not paying) or a shill bidder (to bump up the price or find out my maximum), and they were removed, I would have won it for $39.90.
For those who still use ebay for bidding on items, have you ever had this situation occur to you, and if so, did you reject it or accept it?
For me, I reject the offer, even if it was something I really wanted (like the rare JP figure 8 years ago or the more recent Motorvator)... and if they relist, I have another go at it, at the same bid amount (to see if it happens again).
Has anyone ever been offered a second-chance offer at what they would have won the item at? Does that sort of honourable thing even happen on ebay?
That's one dealer to avoid though (for taking advantage of a deadbeat or shill bidder working out my maximum), which is a pity, as it is hard to find Americans shipping rarer items outside of America, on ebay.
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