I see myself as a professional auction seller, and I suggest that you view yourself that way, too. It is in our best interests to keep our auction community clean and safe for all. Therefore, it is our responsibility and privilege to report any unscrupulous activities that we see, even if we aren’t directly involved. For example...
• Suspect Feedback... Feedback is designed as a protection for honest buyers and sellers, a way to forestall problems and keep all the players honest. Do not allow unscrupulous people to take advantage of the system.
The big sites like eBay, Amazon and Yahoo have thousands and thousands of items, and no matter how hard the site crew works, there are bound to be cheaters. There always are. So if you see the following kinds of abuses, you must make a personal decision about whether to report them...
i) Shill feedback is used if someone’s feedback rating is lousy. They may try to get around it. Either Mr. Unscrupulous can have friends register on the auction site and give rave reviews or he will create several accounts and use one account to give positive feedback to another account. The system surely isn’t foolproof or “crook-proof.”
ii) Feedback extortion is defined as trying to force someone into a certain action by threatening negative feedback. It’s hard to believe that someone would be so stupid as to do this. All the intended victim would have to do is mail the extortion threat to the site authorities. But many veteran sellers assure me that this happens.
iii) Feedback solicitation occurs when someone wants to bargain -- no threats, just a solicitation for feedback. “I’ll buy your widget if you’ll give me some great feedback,” or “I’ll give you positive feedback if...”
• Bidding Abuses... We discussed sniping earlier. Although many auctioneers complain about it, it isn’t illegal. There are, however, bidding practices that are considered illegal and can lead to expulsion from the site...
i) Shill bidding is probably quite common, although it may not be obvious from the outside. It is a way of protecting your price.Suppose you want to sell an item for at least $500. As we have previously mentioned, many buyers won’t bid on an item with a reserve price. So that’s not an option. You could start your minimum bid at $500. This will turn off many buyers and you know that hot sellers begin at a lower price. So what if your $500 items sells for $50? One way to protect yourself is by shielding the bid. This means that you get friends and relatives to bid on the item, either to run the price up or to prevent a sale at too low a price.
The auction sites know the outcome of a sale but they have no way of knowing whether the merchandise ever actually changed hands. If neither seller or buyer ever complain, they assume all is well.
ii) Bid siphoning is a practice that can truly bring a quick end to your auction career. Suppose Joe is selling an item and the current price is $50. You email the bidders with the information that you have the same item and will sell it for $40, thus undercutting the seller.
iii) Auction interference occurs when someone e-mails the bidders in an open auction and warns them away from the seller or a particular item. This occurred to me once when someone sent me an e-mail warning me that a certain person who had bid on my item was not to be trusted. What could I do with this kind of information? Not much.
As a seller, you have the right to refuse to do business with a particular person. But I certainly wasn’t going to invoke that right based on an anonymous e-mail. And the way I have set up my selling system, it is impossible to cheat me out of my goods. This person didn’t win the auction anyway so it was a moot point. Was this comment from an anonymous sender meant to be helpful or destructive? Who knows?
iv) Bid manipulation #1 refers to a suspect duo. Suppose that Susie is an wild-eyed collector of Dukes of Hazzard lunchboxes and her arch-rival, Jodie, is the high bidder on a particularly tasty box. If Susie is unscrupulous, she might bid higher and higher until she discovers Jodie’s highest price. And then she retracts her bid.
Bid manipulation #2 is the other half of the duo. On eBay, if an item receives 30 bids, it becomes a hot item and receives a favored position at the very beginning of the category. Some sellers will request that friends bid on their item just to propel it into this category.
v) Chronic bid manipulation involves folks who chronically bid and then withdraw.• Unlawful Identity... Some people have represented themselves as employees of the auction site. There are also dishonest individuals who have used the identity of other users to post rotten feedback or insult others with impunity. There are some who for some bizarre reason delight in making bids in the name of other people.
Finally, there are those who use false information when registering. If you are a seller, you may soon be found out if any charges accrue to you and the site tries to process your credit information. And if you are a buyer, you will have to supply correct information to the seller, or you won’t get your merchandise.
• Miscellaneous Offenses... Naturally, there are offenses that are prohibited because they jeopardize the site and the safe auctioning of items. Surprise, surprise! Interfering with the site (i.e., hacking) is prohibited. So is Spam but you are going to get some.
Once you have dealt with a buyer or seller, you then have their address. Revealing any information other than e-mail addresses online is definitely an outlaw act. I know of some instances where people have gotten mad and published full contact information. Definitely a no-no.
This may sound like a broken record but it’s worth repeating. Once you begin to make significant amounts of money on the auction sites, you will realize that being suspended, temporarily or permanently, is a serious problem. It is akin to getting fired -- only the auction game is a whole lot more lucrative and fun than most jobs.
To maximize your profits, you have to become an expert. The next chapter will show you how to naturally become one...
