Shill Bidding?

buddha162

buddha162

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I won't be coy about this, the auction is from our very own CueComponents: http://cgi.ebay.com/Barringer-G10-B...ryZ21212QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

We had a run in recently in the cuemakers forum, but his listings have bothered me for a long time. Does anyone here actually believe that this cue had 20 something bidders going for close to 600 dollars?

That's a serious question. I am 99.9% sure that this is a repeated MO of shill bidding, with the private auctions and dozens of bidders for a unknown (to me at least) SP, etc...but that leaves .1% room to convince me otherwise.

-Roger
 
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The private listings certainly invite speculation. Here's some info from eBay:

When to Use a Private Listing

While there are some cases where private listings are appropriate, such as the sale of high-priced ticket items or approved pharmaceutical products, you should only make your listing private for a specific reason.

Maybe, he could post his reasons. Some of his items offered in private listings went for as low as $5 and change. Nothing is really high priced.
 
I see no reason to protect the identity of the buyer, so that makes me suspicious. Not sure if the price is reasonable for a glorified sneaky-Pete... anybody familiar with the quality and hit of this brand? Please enlighten us...

Is the seller afraid nobody will bid if they think we will know who they are and laugh at them?
 
Cue Components

do a seach here on AZ for Cue Components of Florida there are quite a few unhappy people.it's good you bring this up again incase someone missed the old posts..
 
I thought the same thing

buddha162 said:
I won't be coy about this, the auction is from our very own CueComponents: http://cgi.ebay.com/Barringer-G10-B...ryZ21212QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

We had a run in recently in the cuemakers forum, but his listings have bothered me for a long time. Does anyone here actually believe that this cue had 20 something bidders going for close to 600 dollars?

That's a serious question. I am 99.9% sure that this is a repeated MO of shill bidding, with the private auctions and dozens of bidders for a unknown (to me at least) SP, etc...but that leaves .1% room to convince me otherwise.

-Roger
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I thought the same thing- I was bidding on the sneaky that was on there (the one that did not have the g10 pin). Almost all the bids were private except for mine. No way to tell for sure, but it did strike me as odd.
 
I see burglars everywhere!

JoeyInCali said:
It is done to protect the winner from getting burglarized.
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I heard that last month, an apartment in Orlando was broken into and the crooks did not steal anything, but instead actually left a cue similar to the one in the auction IN the apartment. Makes me wonder....
 
Did you see this Disclaimer on the listing:

"Who We Will Not Ship To: Back to Top
IMPORTANT NOTE: We will not ship to Canada, France, Germany and Indonesia. NO EXCEPTIONS. Additionally, we will immediately refund anyone who causes us aggravation. If you pay promptly, we will ship your order. We do not want to steal your money and leave town. If you inquire about your order, we will provide an update. We endeavour to ship promptly but occasionally fall behind. If you cannot understand that or are impatient, please do not bid. Also, if you are a know-it-all and quote FCC rules and/or other such nonsense, we will cancel your order and issue an immediate refund. We do not want to do business with morons or anyone who is not understanding and reasonable. We run our business, our way and no one dictates how, where, when or why we conduct business. And yes, we're very independent and get rid of aggravation promptly. Bottomline... don't bust them and just exercise good common sense and put yourself in our shoes. We apologize to those good ebayers who have to read this nonsense but we get some real winners."

Sounds a little unfriendly........
 
metal5d said:
Did you see this Disclaimer on the listing:

"Who We Will Not Ship To: Back to Top
IMPORTANT NOTE: We will not ship to Canada, France, Germany and Indonesia. NO EXCEPTIONS. Additionally, we will immediately refund anyone who causes us aggravation. If you pay promptly, we will ship your order. We do not want to steal your money and leave town. If you inquire about your order, we will provide an update. We endeavour to ship promptly but occasionally fall behind. If you cannot understand that or are impatient, please do not bid. Also, if you are a know-it-all and quote FCC rules and/or other such nonsense, we will cancel your order and issue an immediate refund. We do not want to do business with morons or anyone who is not understanding and reasonable. We run our business, our way and no one dictates how, where, when or why we conduct business. And yes, we're very independent and get rid of aggravation promptly. Bottomline... don't bust them and just exercise good common sense and put yourself in our shoes. We apologize to those good ebayers who have to read this nonsense but we get some real winners."

Sounds a little unfriendly........
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Try calling their customer service department. :D
 
JoeyInCali said:
Try calling their customer service department. :D
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?? DO NOT call their customer service department !,,,,unless you're planning a trip and don't know where to go. :p Their "Lack of Service" department will tell you where to go ! ;)
 
gforces1911 said:
I thought the same thing- I was bidding on the sneaky that was on there (the one that did not have the g10 pin). Almost all the bids were private except for mine. No way to tell for sure, but it did strike me as odd.
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I think you can see your bid, but to everyone else it's private, ie your user id is not available for viewing.

I just lmao'ed a little bit when I see stuff like that on ebay. I guess once in a blue moon someone *real* would actually win that auction, and receive a Barringer SP for...750 dollars :rolleyes:

-Roger
 
I am convinced that there is a lot of shill bidding on ebay. Nobody posts an item like a $1000 cue for 99 cents. You just need several friends who make bids.
 
kaznj said:
I am convinced that there is a lot of shill bidding on ebay. Nobody posts an item like a $1000 cue for 99 cents. You just need several friends who make bids.
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Completely disagree.

I've always posted (100%) of my auctions starting at 99 cents, including expensive cues. It's considered an effective and recommended eBay selling technique. It generates a lot of initial interest ("watchers") and leads to more people keeping an eye on your auction. Ultimately, the extra attention leads to more potential bidders, and a higher selling price.

The only exception to this technique would be highly specialized/niche items.
 
kaznj said:
I am convinced that there is a lot of shill bidding on ebay. Nobody posts an item like a $1000 cue for 99 cents. You just need several friends who make bids.
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I also will sometimes start high priced items with opening bids of .99 As someone else just said, it generates a lot of interest and the price usualy jumps up within the first day or so anyways. It has a little risk to it but it does generate a lot more interest. I have never gotten burned opening up an item for .99 and never had to resort to shill bids.

Vicdotcom
 
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