8 EBay Sellers Admit to Phony Bids

By MICHAEL GORMLEY
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Eight eBay sellers were ordered to pay nearly $90,000 in
restitution and fines after admitting they bid up products online to inflate
the prices.

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said more than 120 people will receive
restitution in the settlement of the three cases, which wrapped up last week in
state courts.

Spokesman Darren Dopp said the cases stemmed from specific complaints, but the
office has not conducted a broad investigation of the online auction industry
and doesn't know how widespread the practice of phony bidding is.

"Radioman390" wrote in message
...

8 EBay Sellers Admit to Phony Bids

By MICHAEL GORMLEY
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Eight eBay sellers were ordered to pay nearly
$90,000 in
restitution and fines after admitting they bid up products online to
inflate
the prices.

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said more than 120 people
will receive
restitution in the settlement of the three cases, which wrapped up
last week in
state courts.

Spokesman Darren Dopp said the cases stemmed from specific
complaints, but the
office has not conducted a broad investigation of the online auction
industry
and doesn't know how widespread the practice of phony bidding is.


I think I can safely guarantee to this guy that the practice is more
widespread that 8 people and $90K. That said, IMO "victims" of shill
bidding -still- have to make a conscious decision to outbid the shill,
and really are at least somewhat to blame if they overpay. This
practice doesn't strike me as being as insidious as misrepresenting
the condition of items (a la an infamous radio seller on eBay) or of
simply not sending the item, which is really where eBay and law
enforcement should be concentrating their efforts.

Did you hear this on shortwave?

Also, why should it be illegal to bid up your own auction. It's a very
immoral act but the other bids are not obligated to out-bid the
seller. I wonder how many times such idiots bidding on their own stuff
get bit in the ass by winning the auction. Or do they get to reject
the top bidder (themselves) and accept the 2nd highest. IF that is the
case then e-bay is truly horrible.


On 07 Nov 2004 20:10:00 GMT, (Radioman390) wrote:


8 EBay Sellers Admit to Phony Bids

By MICHAEL GORMLEY
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Eight eBay sellers were ordered to pay nearly $90,000 in
restitution and fines after admitting they bid up products online to inflate
the prices.

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said more than 120 people will receive
restitution in the settlement of the three cases, which wrapped up last week in
state courts.

Spokesman Darren Dopp said the cases stemmed from specific complaints, but the
office has not conducted a broad investigation of the online auction industry
and doesn't know how widespread the practice of phony bidding is.

"JuLiE Dxer" wrote in message

IF that is the
case then e-bay is truly horrible.

So are you. First you sarcastically ask if this is on topic and it's not.
Then you go into a lengthy spew about how you feel about Ebay. What a
hypocrite!


--
73 and good DXing.
Brian
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A lot of radios and 100' of rusty wire!
Zumbrota, Southern MN
Brian's Radio Universe
http://webpages.charter.net/brianhill/

"Brian Hill" wrote in message
...

"JuLiE Dxer" wrote in message

IF that is the
case then e-bay is truly horrible.

So are you. First you sarcastically ask if this is on topic and it's not.
Then you go into a lengthy spew about how you feel about Ebay. What a
hypocrite!


Brian,

Actually, the OP was, in a way, on topic... since so many of us buy and
sell our radio equipment on ebay. The actions of those shill bidders affect
all of us.

"Brenda Ann Dyer" wrote in message
...

"Brian Hill" wrote in message
...

"JuLiE Dxer" wrote in message

IF that is the
case then e-bay is truly horrible.

So are you. First you sarcastically ask if this is on topic and it's
not.
Then you go into a lengthy spew about how you feel about Ebay. What a
hypocrite!


Brian,

Actually, the OP was, in a way, on topic... since so many of us buy and
sell our radio equipment on ebay. The actions of those shill bidders
affect
all of us.




I hear you Brenda. She's just too abrasive.

B.H.

Welcome to the world of Ebay. Unfortunately shill bidding, bidding
against the box and all the other ways an in-person auction can be
manipulated are available to the online auctioneer. Among the
high-end sewing machines for sale on Ebay are several out-and-out
frauds. The sellers of those Bernina machines have no feedback and
are offering $5,000 machines for a pittance. These auctions are scams
to harvest the credit card numbers or money or both of bidders.




(Radioman390) wrote in message

...
8 EBay Sellers Admit to Phony Bids

By MICHAEL GORMLEY
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Eight eBay sellers were ordered to pay nearly $90,000 in
restitution and fines after admitting they bid up products online to inflate
the prices.

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said more than 120 people will receive
restitution in the settlement of the three cases, which wrapped up last week in
state courts.

Spokesman Darren Dopp said the cases stemmed from specific complaints, but the
office has not conducted a broad investigation of the online auction industry
and doesn't know how widespread the practice of phony bidding is.

Criminals are everywhere, they're everywhere, my mind describes them
to me, only to me


I've always been under the impression that ebay is a seller's market
so I've never considered purchasing shortwave gear from there. I'd
rather help out a local ham/swl before spinning the roulette wheel.

"Radioman390" wrote in message
...

8 EBay Sellers Admit to Phony Bids

By MICHAEL GORMLEY
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Eight eBay sellers were ordered to pay nearly $90,000
in
restitution and fines after admitting they bid up products online to
inflate
the prices.

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said more than 120 people will
receive
restitution in the settlement of the three cases, which wrapped up last
week in
state courts.

Spokesman Darren Dopp said the cases stemmed from specific complaints, but
the
office has not conducted a broad investigation of the online auction
industry
and doesn't know how widespread the practice of phony bidding is.


A while back I had bidded on a Drake R8A. I had the high bid until the last
30 seconds when gottahaveit1995 nabbed it. Since then I have read about some
shady tactics of RadioMart. Now I'm wondering if they/he were working
together.

DeWayne

I think that Ebay can be a good place for buyer and seller to connect
if you take a few precautions. For instance as a buyer I avoid
sellers with less than 99% positive feedback and look for buyers with
an established record.
As a seller I give more leeway in negative feedbacks before turning a
buyer down. I won't ship before payment has cleared.

JuLiE Dxer wrote in message . ..
Criminals are everywhere, they're everywhere, my mind describes them
to me, only to me


I've always been under the impression that ebay is a seller's market
so I've never considered purchasing shortwave gear from there. I'd
rather help out a local ham/swl before spinning the roulette wheel.