eBay Bidder to Block ASAP

[3kingsofcards]

We had a bidder last night on teams in a break listed on eBay running a very interesting scam that we had not seen before.

He/she was using two different usernames. A legitimate bidder would bid on a team, let's say a $6 bid on the Red Sox. The scammer would come in with his first username (borrus0) and bid a large amount, say $75. About double what the team would go for under normal circumstance. So now he is the high bidder at $6.50. Then he would come in with his second username (biltompso0) and bid $76. At the last second, literally 5-10 seconds, before the listing is to end he would cancel the $76 bid made with the second username. Thus, it would drop him back to the $6.50 high bid with his first username and he would win the team way below the average price.

He did this on at least 5 of the 30 teams listed for the break. On one team though it backfired and someone submitted a legit bid at the last second and pushed him all the way up to his high bid, in this case it was $45. Sure enough, almost immediately we get a message asking us to cancel the sale. Just this sale, he requested an invoice for the other 4 teams.

I thought there was a point in an auction listing where you could no longer cancel your bid? Either this person has found away around that limitation or that is not the case.

There was a third username that may also be associated with the same person.

The three are borrus0, biltompso0, and bobbywayn_0.

Of course, in the end he didn't pay for any of the teams he won, another reason to block him. Of course since he did win some I do have his name and address as well lol

Since this same method could work on single cards, breaks, really anything listed at auction to get an unusually low price, I just wanted to share.

[Peties Army]

Pretty sure you cant do that.

Honestly, while I think it is screwed up, kind of genius

[allstarauction]

I think the loophole they found was the 2nd bid was placed within 30 minutes of ending, so you can still retract. Just a guess.

[3kingsofcards]

Originally Posted by Peties Army

Pretty sure you cant do that.

Honestly, while I think it is screwed up, kind of genius

I didn't think you could cancel a bid that late either, but sure enough it was happening. I can see it in the bid history with time stamps and have the email from eBay each time a bid was cancelled.

[3kingsofcards]

Originally Posted by allstarauction

I think the loophole they found was the 2nd bid was placed within 30 minutes of ending, so you can still retract. Just a guess.

Ah, yep. The 2nd bid was definitely placed within 30 minutes of the auction ending. That could be it.

[no10pin]

Originally Posted by 3kingsofcards

I didn't think you could cancel a bid that late either, but sure enough it was happening. I can see it in the bid history with time stamps and have the email from eBay each time a bid was cancelled.

I thought the same, but here's the rule on it:

Listing ends in less than 12 hours:

Yes, but only if you retract the bid within one hour of placing it

When you retract the bid, we remove only your most recent bid. Bids you placed prior to the last 12 hours of the listing are not removed.

[Keyser Soze]

Have you notified ebay? They should be able to determine that all accounts are bidding from same IP address.

[joejoemay]

Funny and I can't cancel a (mistake bid I made) because it says it is within 24 hours of the auction ending...not that eBay savvy and don't run breaks but will be banning the names listed.

[3kingsofcards]

Originally Posted by Keyser Soze

Have you notified ebay? They should be able to determine that all accounts are bidding from same IP address.

I am writing them as we speak. It could be one person using one IP address or two people in different locations in cahoots I guess.

[theflushingmets]

Originally Posted by Keyser Soze

Have you notified ebay? They should be able to determine that all accounts are bidding from same IP address.

not for nothing but that would be easy to get around using multiple devices. but im pretty sure ebay has a way to see if they were all on the same wireless network. I always heard that if two bids come from different accounts on the same network, those are grounds for immediate termination of the accounts.

[3kingsofcards]

FYI, all three accounts had less than 3 feedback, two of them didn't have any. All have only been members since January. I think they definitely set up the accounts for this purpose. I guess another way to protect against it is to change settings to not let people under a certain feedback level bid. I think you can do that.

[allstarauction]

Originally Posted by 3kingsofcards

I am writing them as we speak. It could be one person using one IP address or two people in different locations in cahoots I guess.

You are definitely waaaayyyy better off calling. They are one of the companies that if you don't call who knows who long or if you will get a response.

[3kingsofcards]

Originally Posted by allstarauction

You are definitely waaaayyyy better off calling. They are one of the companies that if you don't call who knows who long or if you will get a response.

Good point, I'll make the phone call.

[Corky]

That is really crappy that they are abusing a loophole and then not pay anyway. Hopefully eBay will ban the ip(s) connected to the accounts.