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SAFE SHOPPING AND AUCTION BIDDING
* If you have read the item description, read it
again!
* Safe bidding flies out of the window if you
are too hasty with your bidding finger before
checking your future purchase carefully.
* I can't stress enough how important it is to
carefully read the item description before
you place a bid. Problems can arise when
the bidding comes to a close, as the highest
bidder can be disappointed by the item they
received or the final price of the item, due to
not reading the Item Description and Seller's
terms thoroughly
GUIDE TO SAFE BIDDING
* Check for specific details relating to the item. Is it
described as new? Old? Used once? Falling
apart? Sealed in its original packaging?
Guaranteed authentic? Is it complete? In the case
of some electronic items, are all the necessary
adapters and cables included? For items of
clothing, is the item the right size and colour?
* Study any accompanying picture and compare with the
item description. Are there any items missing from the
picture that are described in the text? Are there any items
visible in the picture that are not described in the seller's
text? Is the picture vastly different to that which is
described in the text above it? Note that in the cases of
colour and shade, some items may appear in a slightly
different colour to the actual item for sale. This can be due
to limitations in a seller's scanner or camera and / or your
own monitor. It is therefore best to take full account of the
seller's actual description of the colour and not just rely on
the photo.
* Any extra surcharges due for certain payment
methods should be described in the listing, therefore
it is important to read these terms carefully. Bidders
may be disappointed when they find that the postage
costs involved were not what they expected, when
the costs were to be found on the Item Description if
only they had looked.
* Review the comments left for a trader. If you
see that a trader has in the past few weeks
accrued a large number of negative comments,
you may wish to rethink your bidding decision.
However, many users feel it is important not to
dwell upon the negative aspect of feedback
comments and view the feedback as a whole.
For instance, you may feel wary if you see that
a trader has 4 negative comments left for them
- looking further though, you then see that they
have a total of 590 positive comments. Based
on that information, more experienced users
might feel this trader is a good trader!
*
* SOME sellers buy on ebay and re-sell so you
may be purchasing something they just bought
on ebay. A trick to finding this out is to check
their feedback. Look in the FROM sellers
column of their feedback.
*
* Talk to the Seller. Email the seller if you have
any concerns before bidding - good sellers will
welcome your email!
*
* Talk to the seller's previous buyers. You may
like to email a couple of the previous buyers
who bought items from this seller and ask their
opinions - their User IDs are listed in a seller's
Feedback list and they can be contacted the
same way that you would contact the seller,
that is by simply clicking on their User ID.
* Remember that by placing a bid on an item, you are entering into a binding contract with the seller should
you become highest bidder.
*
* eBay has a feature called the "Proxy Bidder". This is
basically an automated bidding service that works on your
behalf. How it works is this; At the time of bidding, you enter
your maximum bid amount, letting the Proxy Bidder know
the maximum price you are willing to pay. The Proxy Bidder
will then keep bidding for you until you have either won the
item at the close, or you reach your maximum bid at which
point the Proxy Bidder stops bidding any further.
*
* It is therefore good practice to make a decision as to what
the absolute maximum price is that you are willing to pay,
(taking any other costs such as postage into consideration)
then place that amount as your maximum bid amount with
the Proxy Bidder.
If you need an auction babysitter use a sniper
program. Many of my customers use this one. You set
your highest price and it bids near the end of the
auction. AUCTION SNIPER click here
"Start winning more eBay auctions, and
become an eBay sniper without any extra
effort. Auction Sniper makes sniping on
eBay auctions as easy as placing a bid,
anyone can do it! Since we snipe eBay
from our servers your computer doesn't
even have to be on and there is no
complicated software to learn. Our bid
sniper server will snipe eBay just a few
seconds before the auction ends, so you
can rest easy."
* Be a smart shopper on Ebay and learn the SIGNS of
sellers who use shill bidding to increase YOUR
COSTS
*
* The use of shill bids in online auctions illegally drives
up prices and defrauds consumers
*
* DID you KNOW that SOME sellers recruit neighbors
and friends and family to bid up their items so YOU
have to pay more. They are called SHILL RINGS. The
FBI is investigating these networks set up by
dealers and sellers
*
* You may THINK that you are bidding on an item that
has a lot of interest because there are a LOT OF
BIDS but it is POSSIBLE you are bidding on an
auction that has shill bidding.
*
* WHY should YOU pay the high prices?
*
*
* Here are some simple tips to remember:
*
* A seller who uses very low starting prices and
instantly gets bids on ALL their items ( and lots of
them ) COULD be a dishonest seller.
*
* WHen you see the same item on different auctions
and only ONE auction sells it for more than the
market price and the others barely get bids, it could
be a dishonest seller. Check out their auctions. Are
their bids on every item? MANY bids?
*
* Did you know when a seller lists an item it takes up
to 6 hours for the general public to see that item?
Check out the auctions and if you see bids in the
first hour an auction was listed , you could be
dealing with a dishonest seller.
* If you see items sell and the buyers never leave
feedback to that seller, you could be dealing with a
dishonest seller.
*
* IF most of the buyers have very low feedback, you
could be dealing with a dishonest seller.
*
* MSNBC has a great link that tells you how many people
have become entangled in an angry web of deceipt.
I have been selling on Ebay for over five years. People
always ask me why I put reserves on SOME items. I do this
because I don't believe in sellers using SHILL BIDDERS to
up their item price so they don't have to put reserves on
them.
Those same sellers gripe because some sellers use
reserves but in essence they are doing the same thing and
MUCH WORSE. If they pay $100.00 for an item and start it
$9.00 do you REALLY THINK they are going to let it go for
LESS? NO.. They get their shill bid ring to pump up the
price so YOU HAVE TO PAY the price they secretly want.
NO GOOD business person is going to sell the item for less
so the choice is
1: start it at what you paid for it ( and this sometimes
scared buyers away because it is more than what they
want to pay, which is why I put the reserves on them to
protect my original investment)
2: put a reserve on it
3: call all your friends and family and have them bid it up to
the price you paid.
IF my items don't meet my reserve then I put them on my
other two web sites. I don't use shill bidders to get to the
reserve price. Lets make ebay a fair playing field and try
and make it a fun place to buy and sell. A buyer should not
have to PAY more than what the item is worth because
they are caught up in the bidding frenzy that some sellers
create.
As long as I have been selling on ebay, with and without
reserves, I have NEVER had LOTS bids on EVERY ITEM
at one time. It is an improbability. I may get bids near the
end but not on every auction near the beginning. I am one
of many HONEST sellers who don't believe in cheating
their customers. You probably are noticing that some
sellers are writing in their auctions "I am a SHILL BIDDER
FREE SELLER"
One last note. MANY top sellers who are honest get bids
near the end or on the last day. This is because smart
shoppers have realized that they are being taken
advantage of. Once you place that bid in the beginning of
an auction, you may as well get out your pocketbook
because it is going to cost you.
I am going to continue to update this so please check back
often and be sure to refresh your page.
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