Need some quick advice on scammish proxibid auctionhouse!

I prebid about 60-80 items the other day & now am watching the live auction. I've won about half of my bids, but here's the kicker...I remember seeing that I'd been outbid on an item right after the live auction started(an item towards the end). How the bidder alerts work is that I get e-mails to inform me if I've been outbid up to 1 hour before the auction starts, but no alerts after that(so you got to watch the live auction, but you can still pre-bid) I was just making a quick tally of my lots just now & noticed that I was back in the lead on the lot I was outbid on(Merc with FSB), I thought it was awesome until I noticed that everyone of my lots were won at my max bid. I'm a good estimater of value, but not that good. I believe that they have someone going in & bidding an item up until it hits my max, & if they catch it they either retract the bid or sometimes keep it & relist it later. I think proxibid actually manages the prebids, but for some reason I'm feeling like I'm getting scammed. What to do? Call the auction house & ask directly, or call proxibid? or just inform visa of what I suspect to be a criminal act? or just eat it, because I had planned on spending up to that amount anyway?
Thanks.

 

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I would call the auction house and ask how that is possible.

 

So, do you think I'm right to be suspicious? I'd really hate to accuse them or to point fingers if they've done nothing wrong.

 

Most online auctions ive seen and i do a lot of bidding on them you win it close to your max or lose it just over your max I have had a couple that i won cheaper than i put in but on one of them i was thing one thing and bidding on it like it was that

still paid max for it though if i had bid on it that way

I dont know how but i have lost one or to where another bidder ties me but it is all good gives me more money fore something else later

 

Over 30 lots, all at my exact Max bid increment?

 

What they may be doing isn't a criminal act, but it is very likely to be unethical.

Chris

 

Yes something doesn't seem right. How can you be outbid and then win that auction without putting in a higher bid? It's like when I bid on an item on Ebay and someone outbids me and then later the seller contacts me and says the other buyer didn't pay and asks do I still want to purchase the item. I have turned down some second chance offers because I was winning the bid at a lower price before this non paying bidder bumped me up to my max. Even though I was willing to pay that it just doesn't sit right for me.

I just noticed a really nice lot I wanted and lost out to another bidder was relisted sometime after it ended. I really wanted that one and would have got it for real cheap if it wasn't for the other guy.

 

Here is my e-mail to the auction house;

Chris, I have a question. Please don't take this as an accusation. I use proxibid pretty frequently but it is the first time with your auction house. I was tallying up my lots earlier & noticed that every one of them went for exactly my max bid. Again, I'm not accusing anyone of anything. I just need to know that you aren't using a floorman to run up the bids or anything. I've had lots go for my max before, but never every lot that I've won. Please let me know how this is possible, as we are both adults & aware that there are many unscrupulous people out there. Like I said, I just need some assurances to be made more comfortable.
Thanks

 

I have won 3 auctions on there , by the time they add % on, shipping I figured it was not worth it, infact I have a few bids tonight that are up and I hope
I do not win them.
Sandy

 

It all depends on what their buyers premium is. There are a few houses with 10% & a $10 flat ship, although that is about the best. You just have to bid accordingly. I did win a 76 s trade dollar in EF-AU for $110 & 7 1963 mint sets for $150 i believe, if those two lots turn out as expected it will offset the difference between what I paid & what I believe I would have paid without the "assumed" nefarious business practices.

 

Same thing used to happen on ebay a lot as well. Unethical consignor puts something up for bid. Once the bids slow down, if they aren't high enough they use an account or accounts to run the bids up until they top the max bids. Then they retract the bid and bid up to just below the other persons max bid so that they win it for the max. This was one of the reasons snipe bidding became so popular. If you put your max bid in at the last moment there is no way it can be discovered and run up unethically.

 

Well, I've not heard back from the auctionhouse yet. It's possible that I will get a response tomorrow when they open. If not, I'll contact Proxibid to ask my options. If nothing from them, I've got to decide whether or not to call Visa. I've got to do some research on this, but I believe it is called shill bidding.Thanks all, will keep you informed as this unfolds.

 

I hope it's not a penny auction house...

 

penny auction house? I'm unfamiliar with that term.

 

It may be that the other bidder in front of you had their bids cancelled or that in their ToS or T&C they secretly mention something that makes it allowed, when it is unethical

 

If you're unfamiliar, there's less neeed to worry. A penny auction house is one that purprts to offer huge discounts on expensive items, but charges you for each bid you make.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidding_fee_auction

The unethical ones use shill bidders to bump up the prices of the items.

 

Like I said, shill bidding. Not like quibids or bidcactus type auctions. Have you ever looked on Proxibid? Still haven't heard from auction house, probably going to inform proxibid after checking my Visa balance.
More later

 

Visa has been charged, below is my text to Proxibid;

I believe I may have been the victim of shill bidding at ******* auction on */*/2011. I pre-bid **-** items & won ** lots, every one of the lots I won were at my exact max bid. I've won before at my max, but never all of the lots. I also was outbid on an item & then later noticed that I was the high bidder without ever upping my max-bid. This is the first ******* auction I've participated in so I e-mailed them upon being invoiced to find out how all this was possible & to get their assurance that they are on the up & up, but haven't recieved a response. My credit card was charged this afternoon so I would like this matter resolved soon if at all possible. I'd rather not call Visa to cancel the transaction, but since I've gotten no reply or assurances from the auctionhouse I may have to. I enjoy the service & opportunity I get from bidding on Proxibid, and would hate to let this one experience ruin my relationship with you. Please advise.
Thank you for any help or clarity you may bring to this issue.

 

Never bid your max until it enters auction mode then enter your max then go watch your other items real quick

 

I am a registered bidder. It works this way if if you bid max 50 dollars and the bid is set up to take bids on max bid to win the item now if no one bid on this item and your max bid was say 30 dollars you pay max bid because max bidder gets the item. I always in this situation bid 1 dollar and then if someone bids 2 you then go into auction now do you understand?