I'm wondering if someone has been through this same type of thing on ebay.

I put a bid on an item (from UK) on ebay yesterday.  The starting bid was 2.50 GBP and I bid a max. 3.00.  I was the first bidder.  I was outbid sometime over night by username = thedisreputabledog.  I mention the name because next to the name was a little icon saying, "This person changed it's user id with in the last 30 days.   OH the former username was lorien2891.  I didn't think much of that at the time.  So.  I wanted the item and thought that I would up my max. bid to GBP 5.00 but that would be it. If thedisreputabledog was to out bid me again then I wouldn't continue to bid.  That person did outbid me with some time left on the clock.  I didn't want it anymore.  That was that, and I went back to work.

About 15 minutes later I checked my email and low and behold I had an email with a second chance offer.  It was at my Max. bid of 5.00.  I've heard of second chance offers and thought I got lucky.  So I took the offer.

It was just before paying for the item that I started to get a little worried.
I have been reading these forums for a while and I have learned much about shady sellers, people who cause copyright infringement etc...  But I had never seen these user ids before.  So I thought I was probably safe.

It seems to me that someone might have shilled the bidding.  That's the correct term right? Shilling?  It's trying to get me to pay more by raising the bid.  Then the high bidder drops out after bidding has ended and the original seller makes a second offer to me for my maximum bid.

Am I being paranoid?  Does this happen often?  Should I pay for the item?
I'm thinking that if I make payment that I will never see the item.  

Feeling?

Thanks

Pete

Heyas.

Second chance offers tend to come in three flavours.

The first is the out-and-out scam - someone sending a second chance offer for an item that they're not actually selling. If you get the offer through eBay, you're safe from this type - but never take a second chance offer through a private seller or anything of the sort.

The second is a seller that listed something, and has multiple copies. So the high bidder gets one, then the seller goes down the list of folks that bid enough (in their opinion) and offers as many copies as he's got down the line.

The third is a seller that listed something, the high bidder didn't follow through with the sale, so instead of relisting the item, the seller opted to go to the next-highest bidder.

If the item is fairly common, chances are pretty good it's the second. If the 2nd chance offer came quickly after the auction ended, there's little chance it's the third.

pjflores wrote:I'm wondering if someone has been through this same type of thing on ebay.

I put a bid on an item (from UK) on ebay yesterday. The starting bid was 2.50 GBP and I bid a max. 3.00. I was the first bidder. I was outbid sometime over night by username = thedisreputabledog. I mention the name because next to the name was a little icon saying, "This person changed it's user id with in the last 30 days. OH the former username was lorien2891.

No, it's definately not shilling, lol, I'm thedisreputabledog

I got a second chance offer as well from the seller, seems like he must have two boxed sets. His postage was a little steep, but nm. Sorry about bidding against you, but glad you got a second chance offer as well.

I wanted the name Kibeth, from Garth Nix' novels, but it was taken, as was my real name, Lorien (Kibeth is known as the disreputable dog in the novels).

The other type of second chance offer to be careful of is when it comes in a few weeks later. This might seem like the normal time when the seller is simply going down the list because their buyer didn't pay . . .

. . . but make sure you look at who the high bidder was. Sometimes I recognize the name (could even be an Acaeum member) - even if I don't, I look at the feedback. If they are an established member with great feedback you need to wonder. Odds are that they paid, but probably returned the item because of flaws. I always just ignore the offer in this case, but if you were still interested, make sure you contact the high bidder to find out what happened before accepting the 2nd chance.

No hard feelings, I understand about the username thing and particularly since I sniped the item in the last couple of minutes. Ebay's a very odd thing, I was pleased last night when I won the auction, but when I logged on this morning and saw your post, it kind of humanised it for me and felt bad about outbidding you.

I'm just glad I was able to post here & let you know that it wasn't a scam account, so that you feel more confident taking up the second offer item.

I don't sell myself either (except on the corner down the road ), but I honestly think if you just sold small batches, only a few items a week, you probably would enjoy it and not get too much hassle.

I won't bid against you again.

I maybe disreputable by name, but I have an odd sense of honour.