Ebay Question

[Frank97]

I'm currently the highest bidder on an item at £41, my highest bid is £70, so I was just wondering if the seller knows what my highest bid is?
If they can see it and nobody else bids what is to stop them getting a mate to bid £69 so I have to go to my maximum offer?
I hope that makes sense.

[scrummyyummy]

I'm almost certain the buyer can't see it, only you can.

[mrs_overall]

The buyer cannot see it, only you can

[weecalf]

The seller would not know never hear of that .Getting smeone else to bid maybe if he think its going a too low price .It not a nice way to operate but it may happen

[JOLENE12]

the seller can't see your maximum bid. And if he gets a mate to bump up te bidding that is illegal and he will be thrown off. I think it is called shilling???

[twin29]

Hi
The seller cannot see what your highest bid is only what it currently stands at, to stop the problem you are worried about.
Hope this helps

[Frank97]

Thank all for putting my mind at ease. I've never sold anything on Ebay so wasn't to sure how it worked.

[Old_Geezer]

I think the secret is they get a mate to bid, then when they win it the seller contacts you to say the winner has let him down and refused to pay, would you like it at your last (maximum) bid. ;-)

[Frank97]

I'll keep an eye out for that, thanks OG!

[EDDIE51]

As the others have said your highest bid only appears on your 'My eBay' page no where else.
There IS a way other buyers can find out what a highest bid is, not strictly 'in the rules' but known to experienced ebayers .
You click on the item and put a stupidly high bid in eg £5000 , ebay will then show you as the highest bid and the previous bid as the under bid. Then you cancel your bid and give the reason as 'Bid the wrong amount by accident'
The way round this is to wait until the last few seconds and only then put in your highest bid . This way no one can know what your highest bid is going to be. I normally wait until 5 seconds before the auction ends and then put in a highest bid , to do this get your bid ready but don't click on 'confirm bid ' until the last few seconds . You need to have the item 'on watch' so that the seconds click down on your screen to be sure of getting the timing right. I have got a lot of stuff at a good price like this.

[EDDIE51]

Old geezer the problem with your idea is that your mate gets a 'non payer' strike against them on their ebay profile , after a couple of them most people will refuse to accept their bids or ebay suspend them.

[Frank97]

Thanks Eddie, I'll bear that in mind for the future.

[Clanad]

Eddie51 knows whereof he speaks... however, to make the process simpler as well as assure that one doesn't have to set there for the last few minutes of a selling item, you can use aservice (free) souch as "Goofbay" (and others. You simply copy the items Ebay listing number out of Ebay, and paste it into the Goofbay site and select the maximum amount you wish to bid, set the time you want it to appear (down to the last second, if you wish) and then you'll benotified by both Ebay and Goofbay if you've won the item. No one else can see that bid.

I use it all th etime. It only takes a minute to register with the site and, as said, costs nothing...

[Frank97]

Thank you Clanad!

[weecalf]

D97x7 hope you dont mind if I ask a question on a slightly different matter It happened to me lots and lots of times .Ive an item for sale the second bidder is the same person but after they have bid I never get another bidder I know its just him raising his bid ..Just coicidence Im sure but one bidder cant freeze others out can they .

[Frank97]

Not at all Weecalf, hope someone spots it!

[bazwillrun]

Cardinal rule on ebay...never put in a bid until the dying seconds.
Sniping is the only effective way to deal on ebay

Every time you put in a bid you are raising the price you will have to pay, so youre effectively bidding against yourself

ebay is no longer an auction site in thee true sense of the word

[boxtops]

weecalf, that sounds to me like the bidder is just raising his bid, to make sure he gets the item. I've done that sometimes - usually I just stick in my bid for the max I want to pay (I can't be bothered with sniping bids and I've often not around when an item ends) but sometimes I'll put in a bid of say £4 then think "no, that's worth a tenner to me" and up my bid. That still shows I've made two bids - that means the winner and bidder 2 is me. There's nothing sinister about - no bidder can block out anyone else making a higher bid.

[boxtops]

Eddie, I have never seen that about the second highest bid showing. It either says "you are the highest bidder" or you've been outbid.

[Old_Geezer]

Ah Eddie but what is to stop you opening up another e-mail account and registering as another mate ?

[ojread2]

the fact that if you get caught, you will have both accounts banned