A Question For You Ebay Sellers...

[GreatWhiteNorthPiper]

I've stopped buying pipe materials on eBay. I find if you wait for sales at the big online pipe and tobacco retailers, you can get new pipes for the same or cheaper prices than used ones on eBay. Seems to me that a lot of people like to charge insanely high amounts for shipping to make up for lower prices on the actual thing they are selling. It's a bit of a scam.

 

[mikethompson]

I used to sell tons of car parts on eBay many years ago, like before PayPal and online payment. In many ways it was the wild west back then.

I can't imagine trying to sell something on there now.

 

[kcghost]

You can buy on eBay safely and confidently if you take time to check the seller out. With pipes you have to deal with people are strictly legit. eBay does not have a ring of people out there running up bids so that they make more money. Their management has no desire to be carted off to jail.

 

[ashdigger]

The only thing I hate about EBay is their Global Shipping Program.

The program is an absolute scam when selling and buying pipes.

The GSP should not allow any pipe sales. Full stop. Instead, they allow the sales and then confiscate the pipe as a “prohibited item”.

Complete moral scumbaggery.

 

[Searock Fan]

In this day and age, if there's money involved some jackass has come up with a rip-off !!!

 

[Aomalley27]

You can buy on eBay safely and confidently if you take time to check the seller out. With pipes you have to deal with people are strictly legit. eBay does not have a ring of people out there running up bids so that they make more money. Their management has no desire to be carted off to jail.

EBay doesn’t but sellers do! And EBay is complicit by do nothing about those sellers. Ditto, how they handle scammers and thieves. As long as they get a cut, they could care less.

 

[bbqpiper]

I don't sell much on Ebay but do have 4 items up now. I have never had retraction on anything I have sold.

 

[anotherbob]

And honestly...if my suspicion is right and eBay IS doing this...I'd rather NOT make more money just so they can. I hope I'm wrong...but with multiple retractions each and every week...something is up.

doesn't really make sense for ebay to do that. Why they would lose more money and also lose more sellers.

 

[anotherbob]

When I suspect shill bidding, I’ll retract my bid. And more often than not, EBay tries to get me to retract my retraction?
(Of course I’ve other problems with EBay too; Caught a loser trying to post MY graded Hockey card, a 1 of 1, who just copy and pasted MY auction.... they refused to take down the bogus listing until my lawyer threatened legal action. Why they wouldn’t protect buyers in that situation is beyond my comprehension).

Well it could just as easily had someone say that about your account. I am sure people selling similar things have done that before. Making false accusations against another seller. I know that's not what you were doing and all that but I am just trying to imagine what their end of the situation would be and what kind of things they field.

 

[anotherbob]

I bet what happens is some jack asses make multiple bids on similarish items then retract the less favorable wins. That is what seems like the most plausible thing in my opinion. Someone sees several pipes they like and makes a couple bids with the intention of only buying the most favorable ones. Sounds way more likely then ebay trying to squeeze more out of something in a way that's going to lose them more sales. Which of those adds up to the shady person getting what they want and getting the most benefit?

 

[Aomalley27]

Well it could just as easily had someone say that about your account. I am sure people selling similar things have done that before. Making false accusations against another seller. I know that's not what you were doing and all that but I am just trying to imagine what their end of the situation would be and what kind of things they field.

If you’re at all familiar with trading cards... specifically 1 of 1’s; and the fact that MY listing was posted first, AND their ad was just a copy and paste of MY listing, then the plausibility of ME copying THEIR bogus listing is nil.

 

[anotherbob]

If you’re at all familiar with trading cards... specifically 1 of 1’s; and the fact that MY listing was posted first, AND their ad was just a copy and paste of MY listing, then the plausibility of ME copying THEIR bogus listing is nil.

how specialized is that? I mean do you have to specifically be into cards to know what you're actually saying or should more people understand what you're getting at specifically. I mean I think I know what you're saying but I just can't really be sure who would be informed on this well enough to take the word of a random person (who we are to most of the world). I mean it's lame no matter how you cut it, but how lame that's what I am not sure of if that makes sense.

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

Rob Cooper cut me off after 2 rescinded bids when I first found eBay years ago. Like Bob says, I was an newly christianed eBay idiot that overbid a couple times and that was all Mr. Cooper could take…and he was right. ?
I had to watch awesome pipes pass me by weekly for years. ? I even messaged him trying to apologize for my transgression in screwing up his auction begging him to let me back in. ?‍ He never did…and he was right not too. Later, I’d heard he had some health issues. I do wish him all the best.
What I did quickly learn was not to bid unless I really wanted an item. This lesson has served me well. Thanks Mr. Cooper wherever you are. ? ️

 

[5star]

I would Never retract a bid, because a man’s word is his word.
I didn’t even know you Could retract a bid on ebay.

That’s very suspicious activity that the OP described

 

[anotherbob]

I would Never retract a bid, because a man’s word is his word.
I didn’t even know you Could retract a bid on ebay.

That’s very suspicious activity that the OP described

the only ways I'd do that is if the bid came from the cat sitting on the keyboard or all my money disappeared somehow. Even the first one would have to be crazy then again I only bid low amounts and rarely bother.

 

[5star]

Ive placed bids in a fit of irrationality that I immediately regretted. I hoped someone would come along and outbid me. Usually they didn’t (because no one else had been that dumb).
I paid immediately on close of the auction & chalked it up to a lesson learned.

 

[runscott]

A bidder places a bid high enough to take the lead. Now he knows what the high bid WAS before he bid. He retracts his bid and decides later if he really wants to bid high enough to win.

I suspect this happens more often now because ebay allows it to. There used to be a pretty stiff penalty for retracting bids - now there apparently is not.

 

[mso489]

I don't use eBay, but if people don't pay up what they bid, it kills the whole auction concept. Better just offer at a set price, take it or leave it. An auction is supposed to bring the seller a higher price than just naming a price. Retractions remove the incentive of working with an auction.

 

[runscott]

Yes, and any legitimate auction house will not retract bids unless you call them and explain your reason.

 

[Aomalley27]

Yes, and any legitimate auction house will not retract bids unless you call them and explain your reason.

Legitimate auction houses won’t sell fake/forged goods either.
Legitimate auction houses don’t allow shill bidders.
Legitimate auction houses won’t allow SELLERS to bid up THEIR OWN goods.
EBay is anything but legitimate