Do sellers on ebay go online and bid on their own items attempting to drive up the selling price?

Question

Do sellers on ebay go online and bid on their own items attempting to drive up the selling price?

I'm aware that the seller may not use the same screen name to bid as well, but it would be simple to sign up for a different account to do this.

Answer 1

I am sure a few try to, but they could end up winning, and then the seller would have to pay ebay the selling commission and have the fee for posting the item. If they do too many of those that don't really sell, they would be losing money in the long run.

It is my opinioni that most are honest and sell properly.

Of course you have sellers who get your money and never ship an item also. ( I got one of those last year)

Answer 2

Yes! Some times friends or relative help each other out. Some times they help themselves out. Although it is against EBay's rules it does happen. Some people set up alternate accounts with Ebay and Pay Pal using a PO box as an address. They often bid on an item to keep it from selling lower than they like. One reason they do this is because they are assessed a %fee by EBAY for the amount they list an item for. The more they start bidding for the more they pay, the less the lesser they are assessed. Never click on "watch Item". The seller knows how many bidders are watching. It is best to bookmark the item and bid minutes before the bid ends. Often they will bid on there item with the alias and set an auto bid to move it up to their more favorable price.

Answer 3

It happens all the time. If 1 places an item for sale, and its not moving, 1 can e.mail or call 2 and tell them to place a bid, 2 can call/email 3 and do the same, then all stop at one bid. It is a very low bid, but it is 50% of the Buy It Now! deal. It is illegal as hell, it is shifty and not allowed, but like all things, one has to be caught in order to be told no.
This is in no way exclusive to or regarding eBay Auctions, its every Auction since the first one. Southey's had a fraud complaint in 1972 that was made public. Never had another one.
A Government Auction the house is put up for offered bids, I bid $1, next person bids $5000, I bid $5001, next one bids $10,000,No higher than $10,000 is offered, but $10,000 drops out, you think its rigged?or is that just business as usual.

Answer 4

I knew of several ebay sellers who were either friends of or related to another seller and they would bid on each others items if someone else placed a bid just so they could get more money out of it....needless to say, they were turned into ebay

Answer 5

No, they r not allowed but no rules can prevent some ebay members joining hands and do the rigging for mutual benefit. It will do good to u to see the ratings of sellers before bidding. Chances of sellers doing big turnover indulging in such malpractices are almost zero.

Answer 6

It is definitely shill bidding and is against ebay's rules (and morally wrong as well). However, it does happen. Use ebay's "help" sections to find out what to do to recognize or report suspected shill action.

use the link below for a tutorial, or goto ebay and click help, then enter shill in the search area.

Answer 7

The only way that they would do that is if they were convinced it would sell and knew the quality was good. They wouldn't want to be stuck with the item if someone retracted a bid, it didn't sell, or it was returned.

Answer 8

Sellers can't bid on their item using their account.

Answer 9

It is illegal and you can be banned. Even if you had multiple credit cards and email addresses your name will be banned and turned over to authorities. It is called shell bidding.

Answer 10

Yes, it's called shilling and it is against most auction sites' terms.