Fake bidder when auctioning vehicles.

[bobobrains]

I've been on eBay since 2002 but don't sell too often.  A few weeks ago I tried to auction a van as I had no idea how much it was worth and I'm currently trying to do the same for my in laws old car but I am being plagued by a fake bidder. I've no idea if they're picking on me or if they're just picking listings at random but they're ruining my auctions. These 'bidders' are all 0 rated and the names follow the same format: 4/5 letters, a dash then 4 numbers. If I cancel then a new one just pops up not long after. The cheeky sods even messaged me after they got the final bid on the van to say when they'd come pick it up - I didn't fall for it. Is this happening to anyone else? If so it must be costing eBay a fair bit. I just ended up selling my van outside of eBay to one of the genuine bidders and the chances are that's going to be necessary again with my current auction. I suppose it'll save me £15!

You used to be able to specify that bidders had to have a certain number of positive ratings (I think you could select up to a minimum of 5), otherwise they'd need to contact you 1st, I really wish they'd bring that back.

[red_magpie]

I just ended up selling my van outside of eBay to one of the genuine bidders and the chances are that's going to be necessary again with my current auction.

There's always a likelihood of bogus messages and bids on eBay. There are scams everywhere, which will include you if you try to evade payment of fees by inviting buyers to make a private sale. EBay scans all messages between members for attempted fee evasion, including trying to communicate contact information.

You may have been lucky the last time, but the minimum you can expect if you're caught is a 7 day suspension.