No penalty for non paying bidder on eBay

[kasin]

So am I way off to call this indirect shill bidding?

A friend of mine pointed out that for those of us that have insurance on our collections we frequently use eBay sales history to value our stuff, so this could lead to insurance fraud claims as well? I mean I have the 6 sea sparkle sea ponies for example and I used to value them at about $35 each with float, now I'm putting them over $100 each with float, that's a huge price jump that's looking like its purely fabricated by this scammer. If a few dozen more ponies in my collection are inflated like this it quickly adds up to thousands of dollars in false value.

Ficklefae, thank you so much for posting detailed eBay ID information.

[ashlyne]

So am I way off to call this indirect shill bidding?

A friend of mine pointed out that for those of us that have insurance on our collections we frequently use eBay sales history to value our stuff, so this could lead to insurance fraud claims as well? I mean I have the 6 sea sparkle sea ponies for example and I used to value them at about $35 each with float, now I'm putting them over $100 each with float, that's a huge price jump that's looking like its purely fabricated by this scammer. If a few dozen more ponies in my collection are inflated like this it quickly adds up to thousands of dollars in false value.

Ficklefae, thank you so much for posting detailed eBay ID information.

The problem is there's no way to know when she's sincerely intending to pay when she bids, and when she's not planning on paying :/  SHE may not even know till after the auction ends.   She does pay for some of her auctions (sometimes immediately, sometimes only when threatened with a NPB), and sometimes she doesn't.   There are also others buying these seaponies for pretty high prices too,  possibly influenced by her wins, but maybe not. It's really hard to know what's causing the value changes and usually it's a mix of things.

Companies that deal with collection insurance know that collection values swing wildly. It's always going to be a guessing game, so make sure you have enough coverage. Chances are, while sea sparkle seapony values have risen, Greek ponies have dropped.  Something usually balances out those wild swings a little bit.

Personally I wouldn't call it shill-bidding or anything associated with it.  That's got a specific definition and probably best to not have a similar name that might confuse others.  Honestly, I don't think she gives much thought to what she's doing.  I kind of get the impression she's compulsively bidding on things she wants really bad at the moment and doesn't like to lose so she bids higher than what she should...and then regrets it. 

[goddessofpeep]

I think people should stop going to shill bidding when discussing this buyer.  This isn't shill bidding - it's about an independent buyer targeting multiple sellers across ebay.  Shill bidding is synonymous with bad seller behavior.  That's what it is - a seller bidding up their own auctions to increase the final price.  When someone says "shill bidding", it's an accusation directed at the seller, not the buyer.  These sellers have been victimized enough by this buyer without having their reputations called into question. 

[Taffeta]

I'm glad this topic came up for an unconnected reason, as I had seen the activity being mentioned bidwise but only in terms of a specific seller. And this now makes me happy to know that the seller in question was just an innocent bystander, and that this was bidder madness, not anything else.

I've always hated shilling, and it's a lot harder to call people out on now. It would've been horrible to find that it was happening again, so in a way, although this is mad, damaging and a bit irresponsible, it's a better option.

Hopefully she now realises it's having a bigger impact than she thought before, and it will stop. Either way, thank you for bringing the subject up, as even if it doesn't resolve the activity, it does resolve in my mind that there isn't a shiller on the loose.

And that has to be a good thing.

Also, re NPB and reporting them - that ought to happen irrespective of who it is, unless that bidder has a genuine reason that can be borne out. There are too many people who back out of stuff now, and the only way to stamp it out is to make people responsible for the buttons they click. There are people on the other end of the internet too, and their lives can be messed up by a moment of idiocy somewhere else.

[marblecheshire]

I noticed that sea pony prices has increased drastically and stopped buying because of it. Shame and not fair to other buyers and sellers.

[kasin]

When I said shill, I was not referring to the sellers that she then doesn't pay, I was referring to artificially inflating the market and then listing her own items for sale at the higher value. I'm not sure that's what happened here, but it was what I interpreted from some earlier posts. apologies if I misunderstood.

[FantasticFirefly]

When I said shill, I was not referring to the sellers that she then doesn't pay, I was referring to artificially inflating the market and then listing her own items for sale at the higher value. I'm not sure that's what happened here, but it was what I interpreted from some earlier posts. apologies if I misunderstood.

Shill "an accomplice of a hawker, gambler, or swindler who acts as an enthusiastic customer to entice or encourage others."
I avoided the word since it could easily be seen as implicating innocent sellers involved here. (unlike the shilling situation a few years ago of a very small group of collectors/ebay sellers which came to light)

I've just used "market manipulator" in this instance

[gullideth]

I have had dealings with this person as a seller.  I had bought a lot from them as this whole thing was going down.  I was nervous about the transaction but wasn't aware of her until after I purchased the lot. 
When my box arrived I was missing two ponies but they were replaced with some really great items....like a sea pony shell and extra ponies etc.  She also sent me a nice note explaining that ink was on my missing ponies. Not only did she send me extras, but has since sent me a replacement for one of the ruined ponies.  I haven't received it yet, but she did supply tracking.  I guess if the ponies were ruined she could have messaged me before shipping the order, but has really made up for the issue in my eyes.  I don't know if it is because of the drama here or what.  I just wanted to add my experience to the discussion.

[hathorcat]

As a heads up 1) the Arena does not run the bad trader list, we dont have access to it and we dont maintain it however it is very much appreciated that the id has been added to the NPB list (that we do run). 2) no one has directly reported this person's off-board id to us. In all honesty, as the behaviour is not happening on this forum there is nothing we could actually do about it other than monitor to ensure it does not bounce here in any way. Hopefully an open discussion here will demonstrate that this kind of behaviour is unfair on the whole community.

[shelvesofwhimsy]

Not to reopen this but I think I'm now having the same issue on ebay right now. I just sold 4 more expensive ponies, all to the same buyer and she has not paid yet. Its been 6 days for 3 of the items. Its a pretty big chunk of money and its getting frustrating

[ashlyne]

Not to reopen this but I think I'm now having the same issue on ebay right now. I just sold 4 more expensive ponies, all to the same buyer and she has not paid yet. Its been 6 days for 3 of the items. Its a pretty big chunk of money and its getting frustrating

Ugh.  How annoying.     If they don't end up paying, please report them as a non paying bidder on ebay and add their ID to the list here too.   

[jrr74]

I think if a buyer has two UPI claims filed against them, sellers can do something to their account to automatically block them from buying.  Heck, you don't even have to experience the NPB personally to block them.  If there are two strikes against them from other sellers, and you have this feature set up in your sellers account, they simply can not bid on your item.  Of course, you have to set it up and sellers have to to file the claim when they have been wrong

Sorry about yours and everyone else' misfortune.   

just like to add this to maybe help sellers

http://www.ebay.com/gds/Unpaid-Item-Strikes-Avoid-Bad-Buyers-/10000000176243843/g.html