how to stop scammers from bidding on your items (2024)

FAQs

How to stop scammers from bidding on your items? ›

To keep the scammers from committing to buy your item (and tying it while you go through the unpaid item process) don't use auctions or Best Offer. List as fixed-price Buy It Now only and set the BIN to Immediate Payment Required.

If you think that another member is shill bidding, you don't need to report it to us. eBay has a number of systems in place to detect and monitor bidding patterns and practices. If we identify any malicious behavior, we'll take steps to prevent it.

The usual advice to disappointed newbies is Bid ONCE and bid your MAXIMUM. Many add Bid Late to prevent "nibble bidders" from pushing your bid higher than necessary.

Among the types of auction fraud, the most prominent is Shill bidding. Shill bidding is intentionally fake bidding by a seller on his/her own auction to inflate the final price. This can be accomplished either by the seller himself/herself or by someone colluding with the seller to place fake bids on his/her behalf.

The seller's reserve has to be the single “best and final” one. Therefore, an easy solution to eliminate shills is to use sealed-bid auctions conducted by trustable auctioneers.

If the bidder has bid far in advance of the end of the auctions (often “nibble bidding” which you can see on the bid history page for that lot), the bidder may be a shill since serious legitimate bidders frequently bid as close to the end of an auction as they can.

In the last 15 minutes of bidding, if anyone placed an upset bid, the bidding started on again with another 15 minutes of bidding, this gave both (or anyone) the opportunity to have another bid.

If more than 5 minutes passes. without a new bid the auction is over and last person. wins the item. The purpose of the 5 minute rule is to stop last minute. sniping where bidders wait till the last possible.

Waiting until the last few seconds of an auction to make a winning bid is known as bid sniping. This tactic is used to try to prevent other bidders from having a chance to place a higher bid before the auction ends.

What you are suspecting is called SHILLING: It is illegal. It is against the rules.

Do auctions have fake bidders? ›

There are two types of bidders – real and fake. Those fake bidders are those who try and register to bid but have no real intentions of bidding to win or pay for items after the auction.

You can find out how many people bid on the item and even see their individual bids. Armed with this information you can adjust your own strategy when buying or selling on eBay. The bid history will only be visible for 90 days after the auction ends, after which time eBay removes the listing from the search results.

Shill bidding may also be considered a form of wire fraud, which is a federal offense under 18 U.S. Code Section 1343. Maximum penalties for the crime of wire fraud can include two decades imprisonment.

You can report a user (buyer or seller) breaking our community guidelines directly in-app or by contacting trustandsafety@whatnot.com.

Though shill bidding may not sound as bad as some of the other auction fraud types, it is unethical and, in many cases, illegal.

The consequences for shill bidding on eBay can include penalties such as account suspension or termination, fines, and even legal action. Additionally, shill bidding can damage the integrity of the eBay marketplace and undermine consumer trust in the platform. Is shill bidding on eBay illegal?