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Beware - Obvious ebay shill bidding selling 1952 topps PSA

dgbaseballdgbaseball Posts: 825 ✭
in Buy, Sell & Trade - Cards & Memorabilia
I am watching a bunch of 1952 Topps PSA that end tonight... then I started watching a little bit closer. The seller uses some pretty obvious shill bidding, and wanted to alert anyone else who might be interested in these cards.

The seller is "ban1953"

There are two bidders who are bidding on most of his current auctions, "mbsts" and "paris8461". Both have feedback of 1, coincidentally from other ban1953 auctions. In fact, both have previously "won" auctions currently up for sale by ban1952.

Example:

ban1953 is selling a 1952 Topps GLAVIANO PSA 6

High bidder is Paris8461. Check out Paris8461 feedback, and one of the previous winning auctions is the exact same card... Try and try again.

Another example:

ban1952 is selling a 1952 ZURVERINK PSA 5

Problem is, that exact card (currently high bid by, surprise, Paris8461) was already purchased by an ebay user mbsts in this auction

mbsts also happens to be high bidder on many of ban1953's auctions.

Paris8461 is currently bidding on 7 auctions from (and only from) ban1953. Paris8461 has previously bid on 53 auctions from (and only from) ban1953.

mbsts is currently bidding on 10 auctions from (and only from) ban1953. mbsts has previous bid on 87 auctions, 99% of which were from ban1953

Long story short, ban1953 needs to be banned from ebay.
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Comments

  • xbaggypantsxbaggypants Posts: 2,185 ✭✭✭
    image Did you report this?? Good Investigating!
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  • detroitfan2detroitfan2 Posts: 3,380 ✭✭✭✭
    Thanks for the heads up, I was actually outbid on 2 of these 52 Topps.

    -Tom
  • dgbaseballdgbaseball Posts: 825 ✭
    Yep, I reported it. And e-mailed a few of the current bidders as well to let them know. It's the arrogance that annoys me most.. that they do it so obviously and don't expect to get noticed.
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  • dgbaseballdgbaseball Posts: 825 ✭
    I actually ended up winning one of the auctions, having bid before I noticed the scam. And of course, one of the shill accounts bid my final price up to may max bid. It cost me only about $2 more, but I still won't accept it.

    I e-mailed the seller telling him/her that:
    -we know what they're doing
    -pointed out that the card I won had already been "won" by one of their shill bidders a few months ago, so either they are the same person, or the seller doesn't own the card anymore, so how could he/she be selling it to me.
    -we refuse to pay for the item
    -if they fire back negative feedback to retalliate, we'll report them to ebay (which we already had anyways)

    I also e-mailed ebay CS to let them know what was happening and to tell them I fully expect ebay to remove any negative feedback the seller might leave given the circumstances, especially since I already reported the scam and ebay has taken their time (and still have not) removing the shill accounts, which in the end cost me money I didn't need to spend.

    Think ebay will back me up on this one?
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  • detroitfan2detroitfan2 Posts: 3,380 ✭✭✭✭
    dgbaseball,

    Did the seller ever write you back? Just curious.

    Thanks,

    Tom
  • cardfan07cardfan07 Posts: 680 ✭✭
    I wouldn't hold my breath for anything to come of eBay removing retalitory feedback. It's too bad you bid before finding this out. I wouldn't pay if I were you either.
    Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Tom Seaver, Mike Schmidt, George Brett, Bob Gibson, Lou Brock player collector
  • dgbaseballdgbaseball Posts: 825 ✭
    Nope, no reply from the seller. Only been a day though.
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  • acowaacowa Posts: 945 ✭✭
    Regardless of the sellers actions, you are still responsible for making good on your bid. Read the fine on the confirm bid screen. The seller would still be responsible for your $2 in damages (assuming that you could/would get a judgement).

    Please don't assume that EBAY is a reasonable entity. If the guy negs you, it's probably going to stay on your record. My history with EBAY gives me the impression that they won't get involved. From their perspective, the seller is generating more listing and final value fees by selling the card multiple times to himself (assuming that he pays the fees). Alternatively, they may go back and find that he is requesting FVF credits on the shill sales.

    I appreciate your taking the time to alert me to a potential scammer. Good luck.


    Regards,


    Alan
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