Well, at least the guy is honest about his shill bidding...

RGL

Did you ever read something like this? His explanation is he shill bid his own coins to set an "artificial" reserve, i.e., cheat eBay of fees, but did not realize it was verboten as a newbie. The guy at least deserves credit for being forthcoming. He did not have to include all of the following in his auction listings:

AN APOLOGY - I'd like to take this opportunity to make an official apology for circumstances that led to the earlier canceling of my eBay auctions, especially to those who were bidding on them at the time they were canceled. eBay removed my auctions because I had been involved in a prohibited activity called shill bidding (this was on some earlier auctions and not these that are now reposted). What I did was to use an alternate ID to bid on my own auctions, something which is strictly prohibited. Though not an excuse, I will say that when I did this, at the time I did not realize that it was illegal (I'm new to selling on eBay). Also my intention was NEVER to drive up prices in order to make larger profits, but simply to use the alias bids to set a hidden reserve price so that I would not lose money (which happened on my first auctions). I only used this practice on 4 of my auctions the people affected will be contacted. Looking at this from the point of view of the buyer, I realize how unfair this is and, again, I apoligize for having done this. I have received a warning from eBay to cease such practice and I fully intend to obey this request and to abide by eBay's fair market rules now and in all future auctions. I absolutely believe in acting fairly and ethically in all my transactions and I do hope that anyone who wishes to bid on my auction will take this pledge into consideration. You may also read my positive feedbacks and see that I do treat my buyers with fairness and respect and I hope that you feel that you can bid with confidence. Thank you! Russell Popham, The Hubcapitol.

LINK

airplanenut

I'm impressed!

kranky

I'd say that's going above and beyond. Classy move.

lathmach

Admitting it is rather unusual.

Ray

FatMan

I find this to be very interesting. I am somewhat cynical and something doesn't smell right. Either this guy is too good to be true or I would say he is being blackmailed by someone.

Twowood

" I did not realize it was illegal..." Oh REALLY!!!! Twowood

agfox

Lol... sure an apology is rare, but should he be praised? Heck no. It's illegal, and you'd have to be an incompetent maroon to not realize that. Hell even snake oil sales men knew what they did was illegal...



People like this have ruined Ebay. It WAS a great place, now populated by scammers, jerks, and unethical schmucks. grrrrr

*please exclude some very fine sellers, here and there, that only make up 10% of the seller pops*

nwcs

I respect what this person has said, but it will take time to see if he changes his practices.

UncleJoe

Apology accepted.

agfox, No offense taken.

Joe.

Lakesammman

What do you mean by shill?

Billy C.

leothelyon

I have received a warning from eBay to cease such practice (or be suspended) and I fully intend to obey this request and to abide by eBay's fair market rules now and in all future auctions.

This was not an apology, he was given a choice. Obviously, out of spite or resentment, he choose the latter, lol.

Leo

coppercoins

You lose money on an auction, you're doing it wrong in the first place. You buy an item, then when you go to resell it you set the minimum bid at above your cost and add shipping onto that, and you're fine. Never a reason or excuse for shill bidding, and this idiot had to have known it. No excuse at all, and explaining it isn't deserving of reward. I'm sure people got screwed on his auctions because of his actions. Let's see him repay all the bidders and stop selling altogether. Then I'll accept his apology.

tompkins

I'm willing to accept his statement at face value and give him a chance. As he says, he is new to eBay. And other auction venues (Teletrade, for example), bidding on your own auction IS the way to set a reserve.

Pete

zenny

Apology gone, all dressed up looking like a pro

That was a quick transformation from sweet, naive newbie to aspiring powerseller!

z

banknote1

In most auction sales you can bid on your own coins or currency. They do not want you bidding on the floor but you can mail bid! You can also bid on the floor, but you just can't win the item!! (or at least you plan to stop bidding before the high bid is reached). Also sellers shill bid all the time on ebay. All you have to do is get a friend to bid on your item!
At least this guy admitted doing it!!!