Shady seller?

[bardandfox]

I was browsing a seller's items. He had about 50 and they were niche to random; comics, wargaming magazines and old clothes (non-designer) that he was trying to shift. Each item was being watched by at least one person and each item was in somebody else's basket! Made me wonder if the seller made a dummy account to watch all his items and put them in his basket to prompt browsers to buy them before they were bought.

Maybe not shady but inventive? 😉

[tressygirl]

Nooo,  I don't think a seller would do this.

eBay is now allowing all these notifications,  ' items in basket'  , number of watchers,  telling you others are watching your items!  We are inundated with information,  too many,  and not all,  in my humble opinion necessary.

You say yourself,  this seller is selling a wide range of some niche items,  hence they are attracting different buyers,  buyers seeking those items placing a watch to perhaps seek out a cheaper version or just curiosity.

Combining postage for Private sellers is not possible under Simple Delivery but it is when items are first placed in a basket,  so perhaps more peeps working this out, are going down that route.

Or even a site glitch,  too many of those a happenin' currently ! 🙄

Nothing weird or spooky happening here!  🤗

@bardandfox 

[porte2425]

It does sound a bit suspicious.

If the items have been listed for less than 3 months, then there is no way they are being watched / in the basket of genuine eBayers.

If they have been listed a long time, then watchers are very possible. Having random items from a single seller in baskets is unusual though.

I wonder if this practice is actually against the T&Cs? I know shill bidding obviously is, but faking interest in your BIN items – I don’t know if I’ve heard of that being a specific rule.

[bardandfox]

EBay would probably be all for it because it goads the browser into buying it. I mean, for the love of God, it's already sitting in somebody's basket just waiting to be bought! 😉

[porte2425]

I think you are dead right. Shill bidding is against the law - so, thinking about it, probably the only reason eBay ban it too. 

[w79805]

That's silly.

Any time i list an item it always gets some followers. I listed a *bleep*py 14 year old laptop for parts at £15 like a week ago and it has 2 followers.