Philip Cohen

EBay Reporting Sales Gains

Anyone who thinks that eBay's sales, by either auction or fixed price, are going to be up this quarter is living on a different planet to the one that I am living on. If any eBay statistics have any appearance of being better it is because the many unscrupulous shill-bidding sellers that infest eBay are now mostly buying their own stuff with their dozens of shill-bidding IDs and you can bet that they are not paying any FVF on such "sales" so eBay is not going to benefit from this criminal activity. Have no fear, the "Ho" is still furiously pressing that flush button and the organisation, quite deservedly, is sailing on down the sewer and, frankly, anyone still holding eBay stock in anticipation of an improvement in eBay profits on the 22nd is a fool.

And, some more food for thought …

Shill Bidding on eBay: Case Study #2

Shining some light on the more sophisticated and therefore harder to detect shill bidding activity by some “professional” sellers on eBay auctions

This time a spreadsheet analysis of multiple auctions, from some "professional" sellers from the US and Australia. Needless to say the analysis demonstrates, once again, that, contrary to eBay's claims, shill bidding by many “professional” sellers is rampant on eBay auctions. The full comment and spreadsheet download links at:
www.auctionbytes.com/f...

And, the earlier case study of blatantly naïve shill bidding at:
www.auctionbytes.com/f...

And my even earlier ramblings on the matter of “hidden bidders”, “A comment on eBay’s introduction of absolute anonymity for (shill) bidders” at:
www.auctionbytes.com/f...

A most disingenuous, unscrupulous, criminal organisation—eBay that is.