Oi Farnsworth.... get in here.

[odeon]

Did you buy it?

[Scrapheap]

Did you buy it?

Yes and no.

There's a little gamesmanship that's been going on with the owner.

I'm pretty sure that he had a shill bidder to jack up the price.

I'm trying to get a fair price from him, if not, I'm turning him in to the ebay police. 

[Callaway]

Did you buy it?

Yes and no.

There's a little gamesmanship that's been going on with the owner.

I'm pretty sure that he had a shill bidder to jack up the price.

I'm trying to get a fair price from him, if not, I'm turning him in to the ebay police. 

If he had a shill bidder who jacked up the price, that's irrelevant if the buyer didn't go through with the sale, isn't it?  Your bid that you made would be the highest bid in play, else he would be talking to the highest existing bidder, right?

I think you should stick to your old offer.

[The_Chosen_One]

Did you buy it?

Yes and no.

There's a little gamesmanship that's been going on with the owner.

I'm pretty sure that he had a shill bidder to jack up the price.

I'm trying to get a fair price from him, if not, I'm turning him in to the ebay police. 

If he had a shill bidder who jacked up the price, that's irrelevant if the buyer didn't go through with the sale, isn't it?  Your bid that you made would be the highest bid in play, else he would be talking to the highest existing bidder, right?

I think you should stick to your old offer.

I agree. Unless he can prove the other bidder is genuine (and he may feel he doesn't have to), then as your's was the last kosher bid, it has to be honoured. If it falls through, there must be other bikes out there.

[Callaway]

Did you buy it?

Yes and no.

There's a little gamesmanship that's been going on with the owner.

I'm pretty sure that he had a shill bidder to jack up the price.

I'm trying to get a fair price from him, if not, I'm turning him in to the ebay police. 

If he had a shill bidder who jacked up the price, that's irrelevant if the buyer didn't go through with the sale, isn't it?  Your bid that you made would be the highest bid in play, else he would be talking to the highest existing bidder, right?

I think you should stick to your old offer.

I agree. Unless he can prove the other bidder is genuine (and he may feel he doesn't have to), then as your's was the last kosher bid, it has to be honoured. If it falls through, there must be other bikes out there.

My point is that it doesn't even matter if the other high bidder was genuine and the offer fell through or if he was just a shill.  If Scrap offered what he thought was a fair price for the bike and he was the second-highest bidder, then his bid is the highest bid now.

If someone else had been the second-highest bidder, then I think that the seller would be talking to them, not Scrap.  If the guy is trying to hold Scrap up for more money by asking him to match the other guy's failed bid, then I think Scrap is under no obligation to match it.

[The_Chosen_One]

Did you buy it?

Yes and no.

There's a little gamesmanship that's been going on with the owner.

I'm pretty sure that he had a shill bidder to jack up the price.

I'm trying to get a fair price from him, if not, I'm turning him in to the ebay police. 

If he had a shill bidder who jacked up the price, that's irrelevant if the buyer didn't go through with the sale, isn't it?  Your bid that you made would be the highest bid in play, else he would be talking to the highest existing bidder, right?

I think you should stick to your old offer.

I agree. Unless he can prove the other bidder is genuine (and he may feel he doesn't have to), then as your's was the last kosher bid, it has to be honoured. If it falls through, there must be other bikes out there.

My point is that it doesn't even matter if the other high bidder was genuine and the offer fell through or if he was just a shill.  If Scrap offered what he thought was a fair price for the bike and he was the second-highest bidder, then his bid is the highest bid now.

If someone else had been the second-highest bidder, then I think that the seller would be talking to them, not Scrap.  If the guy is trying to hold Scrap up for more money by asking him to match the other guy's failed bid, then I think Scrap is under no obligation to match it.

Point taken.

[Scrapheap]

Did you buy it?

Yes and no.

There's a little gamesmanship that's been going on with the owner.

I'm pretty sure that he had a shill bidder to jack up the price.

I'm trying to get a fair price from him, if not, I'm turning him in to the ebay police. 

If he had a shill bidder who jacked up the price, that's irrelevant if the buyer didn't go through with the sale, isn't it?  Your bid that you made would be the highest bid in play, else he would be talking to the highest existing bidder, right?

I think you should stick to your old offer.

I agree. Unless he can prove the other bidder is genuine (and he may feel he doesn't have to), then as your's was the last kosher bid, it has to be honoured. If it falls through, there must be other bikes out there.

My point is that it doesn't even matter if the other high bidder was genuine and the offer fell through or if he was just a shill.  If Scrap offered what he thought was a fair price for the bike and he was the second-highest bidder, then his bid is the highest bid now.

Well, that's where the problem lies you see.

I was already onto the fact that a shill bidder was in play, so I bid higher that I was genuinely willing to pay, just to prove that shenanigans were going on. The blue book value for this bike is $1790 in excellent condition. It's not in perfect condition so I'd guestimate its blue book value to be about $1500. The winning bid was $2100.

When faced with a non-payer, ebay has a procedure to deal with non-payers. He completely ignored that procedure and gave me a "second chance offer" which was $2075, a ridiculously high price.

I think it's time for me to show this scumbag my hand and threaten to turn over all the info I have to law enforcement, unless he plays by my rules. 

[midlifeaspie]

Did you buy it?

Yes and no.

There's a little gamesmanship that's been going on with the owner.

I'm pretty sure that he had a shill bidder to jack up the price.

I'm trying to get a fair price from him, if not, I'm turning him in to the ebay police. 

If he had a shill bidder who jacked up the price, that's irrelevant if the buyer didn't go through with the sale, isn't it?  Your bid that you made would be the highest bid in play, else he would be talking to the highest existing bidder, right?

I think you should stick to your old offer.

I agree. Unless he can prove the other bidder is genuine (and he may feel he doesn't have to), then as your's was the last kosher bid, it has to be honoured. If it falls through, there must be other bikes out there.

My point is that it doesn't even matter if the other high bidder was genuine and the offer fell through or if he was just a shill.  If Scrap offered what he thought was a fair price for the bike and he was the second-highest bidder, then his bid is the highest bid now.

Well, that's where the problem lies you see.

I was already onto the fact that a shill bidder was in play, so I bid higher that I was genuinely willing to pay, just to prove that shenanigans were going on. The blue book value for this bike is $1790 in excellent condition. It's not in perfect condition so I'd guestimate its blue book value to be about $1500. The winning bid was $2100.

When faced with a non-payer, ebay has a procedure to deal with non-payers. He completely ignored that procedure and gave me a "second chance offer" which was $2075, a ridiculously high price.

I think it's time for me to show this scumbag my hand and threaten to turn over all the info I have to law enforcement, unless he plays by my rules. 

I don't think there are any laws in play that you could report him on.  This kind of thing happens thousands of times a day on ebay.  Best you can hope for is having the ebay police shut down his account.

[Scrapheap]

I don't think there are any laws in play that you could report him on.  This kind of thing happens thousands of times a day on ebay.  Best you can hope for is having the ebay police shut down his account.

Yes there are, first, he did a bait and switch on craigslist, which is a form of wire fraud. Second, shill bidding IS illegal and you can be prosecuted for it.

I've already contacted ebay and they will probably shut him down, or prevent him from auctioning this bike on their site.

[odeon]

Can you prove all this?

[midlifeaspie]

I don't think there are any laws in play that you could report him on.  This kind of thing happens thousands of times a day on ebay.  Best you can hope for is having the ebay police shut down his account.

Yes there are, first, he did a bait and switch on craigslist, which is a form of wire fraud. Second, shill bidding IS illegal and you can be prosecuted for it.

I've already contacted ebay and they will probably shut him down, or prevent him from auctioning this bike on their site.

Interstate wire fraud.  I'm sure the FBI will be along shortly to get your statement. 

[The_Chosen_One]

Can you prove all this?

Good point.

[Scrapheap]

Can you prove all this?

Only partially.

Ebay has to prove the rest with IP addresses and the like.

What is known for certian is that a fake bidder jacked up the price and the owner failed to go after the fake bidder, instead he solicited money from me while the high bidder still had time to contact him.

The high bidder had a week to contact him. WTF was he doing emailing me 1 day later?? I know that isn't proof, but it's pretty damn telling. How does he explain that?? Also, how does he explain the fact that he never took action against the fake bidder??

The only proof I have of wrongdoing is when he re-posted the auction while I still had an open second offer. Ebay will bust him for that for certian.

[odeon]

Can you prove all this?

Only partially.

Ebay has to prove the rest with IP addresses and the like.

What is known for certian is that a fake bidder jacked up the price and the owner failed to go after the fake bidder, instead he solicited money from me while the high bidder still had time to contact him.

The high bidder had a week to contact him. WTF was he doing emailing me 1 day later?? I know that isn't proof, but it's pretty damn telling. How does he explain that?? Also, how does he explain the fact that he never took action against the fake bidder??

The only proof I have of wrongdoing is when he re-posted the auction while I still had an open second offer. Ebay will bust him for that for certian.

I hope they bust him.

[Callaway]

Can you prove all this?

Only partially.

Ebay has to prove the rest with IP addresses and the like.

What is known for certian is that a fake bidder jacked up the price and the owner failed to go after the fake bidder, instead he solicited money from me while the high bidder still had time to contact him.

The high bidder had a week to contact him. WTF was he doing emailing me 1 day later?? I know that isn't proof, but it's pretty damn telling. How does he explain that?? Also, how does he explain the fact that he never took action against the fake bidder??

The only proof I have of wrongdoing is when he re-posted the auction while I still had an open second offer. Ebay will bust him for that for certian.

Those are good points.  I hope he's barred from eBay, at least.