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I just won these forks on ebay.

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/e11003.m4 ... OTORS:1123

The bidding started at $150 and had a "buy it now" of $210. I've only used ebay a few times and have lost half the items I've bid on last minute by a sniper, so I put a high bid of $209 since I thought this was a pretty good deal and figured someone would probably use the "buy it now" anyways, but if I won a bidding battle, that would be great. I made my bid a day or two after I found them, and a couple of days after that at the same time two people made two bids each and brought the grand total up to $207.50. When I clicked on the bidders names, there was a column that said, "Bid activity (%) with this seller: 100%", which tells me the seller is the one that raised the bids. This seems pretty dishonest to me. Should I just pay and consider it another hard lesson learned from ebay or email the seller telling him he's a rat?

Yeah, that does seem dirty. Would hurt to bring it to Ebay's attention and see if they can look at the history on both folks and confirm it. In the mean time I'd shoot the guy an e-mail stating that you intend to hold off on payment until ebay confirms that he's not an ass.

Be aware that ebay is a seller's market. Ebay will tend to side with the seller every time and he can and will leave you negative feedback regardless of how you handle this.

Arkmage wrote:Be aware that ebay is a seller's market. Ebay will tend to side with the seller every time and he can and will leave you negative feedback regardless of how you handle this.

I've had the opposite experience. The couple times I've had a problem with a seller, eBay/Paypal has responded very quickly and in my favor (as a buyer).

I bought an airbox and even contacted the seller to ask about the shape it was in. I was told it was just dirty, but otherwise fine. When I got it, not only was it dirty, but it had a crack. I tried contacting the seller and asked for a partial refund and I'd fix the crack. Never heard anything back. Opened a case and in the end, I got all my money back (including shipping) and got to keep the airbox.

eBay needs to take care of buyers, not sellers. Without buyers, they have no business.

They have also removed negative feedback as an option for a seller. A seller can only choose positive or neutral feedback now.

Here is how I would handle it. If you think $207.50 is a fair price, go ahead and pay for the forks. Once you get them, inspect them very closely to make sure they are in good shape. Then open a case with eBay.

If the seller is a jerk and would do something like bid up his own auctions (or have friends/employees do it), I wouldn't trust him after telling him you are contacting eBay first. If it turns out it is a weird coincidence and you wind up paying after the investigation, you never know what he might do to the forks, or how slowly he'll ship them or how poorly he'll pack them.

My $.02 is I really do think that eBay will take care of you if the seller is dishonest.

I agree with Tedh98

Ebay favors the buyer over the seller. I sold some stuff on ebay, and the way I understood it is that the buyer could request a refund for any reason within 60 days and I had to give them their money back if they paid to ship it back to me. Negative feedback for a seller is much worse than for a buyer. The buyer can just open another account, but a positive history is very valuable for a seller.

The seller can no longer give negative feedback to the buyer, as long as payment is made.

When you shop on ebay, put the item in your watch list. Decide what is the max you would like to pay. During the last minute of the auction, enter your bid, and then walk away. Either you win it, or you don't.

juliend wrote:When you shop on ebay, put the item in your watch list. Decide what is the max you would like to pay. During the last minute of the auction, enter your bid, and then walk away. Either you win it, or you don't.

That's what I usually do too.

That's the only way I keep myself from getting into bidding wars and spending more than I should on something.

juliend wrote:That's the only way I keep myself from getting into bidding wars and spending more than I should on something.

zactly!

I put my max bid in the beginning and walk away until the auction is over. If someone wants to pay more than me then it is theirs. I never go higher than what I plan. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't!

juliend wrote:The seller can no longer give negative feedback to the buyer, as long as payment is made.

When you shop on ebay, put the item in your watch list. Decide what is the max you would like to pay. During the last minute of the auction, enter your bid, and then walk away. Either you win it, or you don't.

This is normally what I would do, and like I said I usually get out bid. Another reason I didn't do this is because it ended at 5pm and sometimes I work later than that and don't have internet access at work

I put my max bid in the beginning and walk away until the auction is over. If someone wants to pay more than me then it is theirs. I never go higher than what I plan. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't!

That's what I did. Another reason I think the seller is the one who bid up the auction is just as soon as the two guys did their bid, the seller removed the "buy it now" option.[/quote]

Download an eBay app for whatever phone you have so you can buy stuff on the go. Put it in your watch list and bid with about 30 seconds left. Works for me and that's how I always buy stuff.

Sounds like my advice is outdated. The last time I had to open a complaint on ebay was about 10 years ago.

I appreciate ALL advise. This statement that Ted made :

If the seller is a jerk and would do something like bid up his own auctions (or have friends/employees do it), I wouldn't trust him after telling him you are contacting eBay first. If it turns out it is a weird coincidence and you wind up paying after the investigation, you never know what he might do to the forks, or how slowly he'll ship them or how poorly he'll pack them.

Makes me think that I should just buy them first and then take action. Another lesson learned the hard way. At any rate, do you guys think I did well? I'm hoping it will be a completely bolt up deal other than the odo cable.

4vman1 wrote: Makes me think that I should just buy them first and then take action. Another lesson learned the hard way. At any rate, do you guys think I did well? I'm hoping it will be a completely bolt up deal other than the odo cable.

I think you are being too hard on yourself. In all the years I've bought on eBay, I've never once thought to look at the details of the other bidders. I only look at the feedback of the seller. In this case, he has a good rating. That is a lot of feedbacks and you can't please everyone all the time.

As long as the forks are in good shape, I think that is a good price. In the auction he has this - "The fork seals may need to be replaced. " I interpret that to mean there is some leaking. I'd replace those (and the bushings) right away so you can get a look inside to make sure everything is in good shape.

4vman1 wrote:When I clicked on the bidders names, there was a column that said, "Bid activity (%) with this seller: 100%", which tells me the seller is the one that raised the bids.

I'm not following how you are figuring he was "the one" raising the bids

Mr. Wibbens wrote:

4vman1 wrote:When I clicked on the bidders names, there was a column that said, "Bid activity (%) with this seller: 100%", which tells me the seller is the one that raised the bids.

I'm not following how you are figuring he was "the one" raising the bids

"Bid activity (%) with this seller: 100%

I assume that this means the bidder has only used this seller and hasn't bought anything else from anybody else. I could be wrong and I just lucked out by $2.50. We all know what assuming does, it makes an ASS of U and ME. lol

If you use the advice on this site, you got a good deal the rest is a life lesson. Congrats and forward you go!
-Matt

4vman1 wrote:

Mr. Wibbens wrote:

4vman1 wrote:When I clicked on the bidders names, there was a column that said, "Bid activity (%) with this seller: 100%", which tells me the seller is the one that raised the bids.

I'm not following how you are figuring he was "the one" raising the bids

"Bid activity (%) with this seller: 100%

I assume that this means the bidder has only used this seller and hasn't bought anything else from anybody else. I could be wrong and I just lucked out by $2.50. We all know what assuming does, it makes an ASS of U and ME. lol

Or maybe that was the only thing he ever bid on

you won the forks, you paid as much as you wanted to

And now you are crying about it on the internet

Sounds like you need to man the $#@& up and grow a pair

Here's another thought. If you figured someone else was going to use Buy It Now anyway, why put in a max bid of 209 and take a chance on losing the forks, when for one more dollar, YOU can use the Buy It Now option, win them for sure, and just be done with it? I understand if you were hoping they'd go for a lot less, but if you think 209 is a good price, I would have just used BIN.

Anyway it looks like you got some nice forks for a decent price. Good luck with your conversion. I'm just starting one myself.

I don't think you are reading that right. The other bidder had bid 6 times in the last 30 days on 4 items (2 of the bids were on the forks) but all of his bids have been on items from the same seller. That seller does motorcycle part-outs. I've bought several items from them as well. I think you bid and won and should be happy!