eBay "stalker"..? Anyone has the same problem?

[yonico]

I feel like I'm being stalked on eBay

 

There's an eBay user who stalks me; meaning he bids on every single item I bid on. I see him on almost every auction I bid on.

First I didn't know what his username was, but after he outbid me on an item and won it, I waited for him to leave a feedback on that item so now I know his handle.

Sometimes I'm very Interested in the item, and end up paying more than I wanted to, cause he bids me up. Other times he outbids me and wins the item when I give up and stop bidding.

 

First, I thought maybe he just had the same collecting/buying interests as mine, and it's just a coincidence. So this week I picked a random coin to bid on (with a FMV of about $25), and placed an outrageous bid of $100 on it. Nothing for 2 days; but this morning, sure enough I was outbid. Current bid $101, by none other than this stalker.

 

It's funny at times, but really frustrating when I keep getting outbid on the stuff I really want. It's on a wide range of different series, grades, and certified/raw.

Not sure if this person is doing it out of spite, for some reason (I doubt it though. He spent too much money to just annoy me). Maybe he thinks I pick out the good coins out there and follows me. I don't know.

 

Anyone has the same problem? What would you do to "shake him off"?

[bsshog40]

Make another ebay account.

[yonico]

I was thinking about changing my username or using one of my other seller accounts to bid on coins. I might do that.

[James_OldeTowne]

The funny thing is, years and years ago when I used eBay (I'm talking ten years ago probably), I DID have an eBay-stalker! And it turned out to be someone I knew, as he eventually fessed up to me that he trusted my instincts and figured that if I were bidding on something, it must be worthwhile. After that, he did stop stalking me. So basically, it can and does happen.

[jom]

How can one tell who is bidding on a coin? I thought they blanked out the names with *** or something.

 

jom

[yonico]

The funny thing is, years and years ago when I used eBay (I'm talking ten years ago probably), I DID have an eBay-stalker! And it turned out to be someone I knew, as he eventually fessed up to me that he trusted my instincts and figured that if I were bidding on something, it must be worthwhile. After that, he did stop stalking me. So basically, it can and does happen.

 

If that's the case, I guess I should be flattered

 

But I get so annoyed! Especially when I'm outbid by a dollar

[yonico]

How can one tell who is bidding on a coin? I thought they blanked out the names with *** or something.

 

jom

 

Yes. But It shows as the same censored username all the time.

 

Like a***j (1885) - the 1885 is the guy's feedback score.

 

And I kept seeing that same one over and over again. So when he outbid me and won an item, I watched the seller's feedback profile to see who leaves a feedback for this item. When they got the item and left a feedback, I saw his full username (on the feedback profile, you see the full username that left a feedback).

 

Now I have his username (not that it helps me at all; what he does, while irritating, is not against any rules.. Nothing I can do about it).

 

I'm 100% sure he does bid on almost EVERYTHING I'm after, since like I said, he just outbid me at $101 on a $25 coin...

[bsshog40]

Why don't you send him a message, if ebay allows that.

[DaveG]

Personally, I'd be tempted to bid on a bunch of coins I didn't really want, just to see him outbid me!

[dadams]

I feel like I'm being stalked on eBay

. . . Maybe he thinks I pick out the good coins out there and follows me. I don't know.

. . . What would you do to "shake him off"?

I'm sure he thinks you have a good eye as I feel I'd probably do pretty decent if I were stalking you

 

To shake him off just quit giving him notice of what you want.

 

The "Stalker" is more than likely using the eBay Advanced search Items by Bidder feature to see the items you have bid on.

 

Don't bid and just snipe the auction. I never bid in an auction with days or minutes left, but instead enter my bid into eSnipe and it bids for me with 3 seconds left in the auction. Put you max bid in, set it, and forget it - you win or loose.

 

( For those bidding on Heritage auctions you too can snipe by using GavelSnipe )

 

 

 

[yonico]

Personally, I'd be tempted to bid on a bunch of coins I didn't really want, just to see him outbid me!

 

And I did see my OP.

but I'm afraid if I did it a couple more times he would catch on and I'll be stuck with coin

[MarkFeld]

How can one tell who is bidding on a coin? I thought they blanked out the names with *** or something.

 

jom

 

Yes. But It shows as the same censored username all the time.

 

Like a***j (1885) - the 1885 is the guy's feedback score.

 

And I kept seeing that same one over and over again. So when he outbid me and won an item, I watched the seller's feedback profile to see who leaves a feedback for this item. When they got the item and left a feedback, I saw his full username (on the feedback profile, you see the full username that left a feedback).

 

Now I have his username (not that it helps me at all; what he does, while irritating, is not against any rules.. Nothing I can do about it).

 

I'm 100% sure he does bid on almost EVERYTHING I'm after, since like I said, he just outbid me at $101 on a $25 coin...

 

There is something you can do about it and quite easily - place snipe bids.

[yonico]

Why don't you send him a message, if ebay allows that.

 

Yes, i can send him a message.

 

What should I tell him?

 

 

I feel like I'm being stalked on eBay

. . . Maybe he thinks I pick out the good coins out there and follows me. I don't know.

. . . What would you do to "shake him off"?

I'm sure he thinks you have a good eye as I feel I'd probably do pretty decent if I were stalking you

 

To shake him off just quit giving him notice of what you want.

 

The "Stalker" is more than likely using the eBay Advanced search Items by Bidder feature to see the items you have bid on.

 

Don't bid and just snipe the auction. I never bid in an auction with days or minutes left, but instead enter my bid into eSnipe and it bids for me with 3 seconds left in the auction. Put you max bid in, set it, and forget it - you win or loose.

 

( For those bidding on Heritage auctions you too can snipe by using GavelSnipe )

 

 

 

Why thank you

 

I used to use esnipe (I don't mind the small fee, as long as its not a high dollar item), but it sometimes fails to place a bid for me, for some reason.

I like to place a bookmark bid on the items I'm after, so that even if I forget to bid again, I get a reminder on my iPhone through the eBay app, when the item is ending soon (15 minutes before it ends). I then usually place my bid 30 seconds before the end.

I guess these bookmark bids are what he sees..? And then he just places strong bids against me, or possibly snipes it from under me.

 

It's especially annoying when I bid on an item that doesn't get much attention (blurry or bad pics, misattributed varieties, incomplete/wrong description etc..), and that's where it's usually just me against him. If it wasn't for him, I'd "steal" them off at a great price.

 

The other day, I was bidding on an extremely rare sample slab that no one seemed to notice on eBay. I was high bidder all along the 10 day auction, and he bumped it up from $30 to $99 in the last 30 seconds. I still won, and it was still a beautiful deal I got on that coin, but damn I wanted it at $30!!

[yonico]

 

There is something you can do about it and quite easily - place snipe bids.

 

Tried that last year. I didn't mind the 1% fee, but on 2 different items it failed to place my bid. When I contacted customer service, they referred me to their FAQ, that read:

 

Both eBay and eSnipe are reliable services, but extraordinary situations do occur. It's important that you understand the risks of sniping:

The eSnipe servers could malfunction.

The eBay servers could malfunction.

Your bid could be lost due to a programming or maintenance error on eSnipe's part.

You must assume the worst-case scenario, that, as on eBay, once you place a bid, you cannot retract or edit it. Normally of course, this is not the case, and you can safely edit or cancel a bid within 5 minutes of the snipe time. eSnipe's servers are exceptionally reliable and well-maintained, but no one can promise 100% reliability on the Internet. Remember that because your bid is placed just a few seconds before the close of the auction, there are many errors you only discover after the auction is over. For example:

 

If you changed your password on eBay but forgot to change it on eSnipe, eSnipe would be unable to place the bid in time.

The eSnipe servers could malfunction while you were trying to edit or delete a bid.

eSnipe's servers prepare the bid 5 minutes in advance of your snipe time, so if you tried to edit the bid after that time the edit may fail.

eBay's servers could slow down. If their servers were 5 seconds slow and you had a 3 second snipe, your bid won't get placed. Nor would it get placed if you were manually sniping under these same conditions.

eBay's servers sometimes stop working, or are rebooted right at the time an auction closes. Since the servers that accept bids are not the same ones that display auctions, sometimes it looks like eBay should be able to take a bid when in fact it cannot.

Risks are also discussed in our Member terms page as well as in the eSnipe Tutorial.

 

 

 

 

 

I still might give it another try anyways...

[dadams]

I like to place a bookmark bid on the items I'm after, so that even if I forget to bid again, I get a reminder on my iPhone through the eBay app, when the item is ending soon (15 minutes before it ends). I then usually place my bid 30 seconds before the end.

I guess these bookmark bids are what he sees..? And then he just places strong bids against me, or possibly snipes it from under me.

 

The bookmark bid is what he sees. Why don't you just set an alarm on your iPhone Calendar to go off 15 minutes before the auction ends then do the bid manually.

 

Edit to add: make sure you account for time zones, I think ebay is PDT

[Raisethis2]

I like to just put an item on my watch list. Then when the coin sells I can jump all over it in the last 5 seconds. He'll never be able to track that.

[yonico]

These are 2 excellent ideas!

 

My watch list is usually filled with items I'm not yet sure I want to bid on. So I just "track" or watch them, until I look into them a little closer . This way I don't forget to check on them.

But I could definitely use it instead of a bidding first.

 

And the iPhone idea is great as well. Never thought of doing that. I'm gonna have to try that!

 

Thanks guys!

[bsshog40]

Why don't you send him a message, if ebay allows that.

 

Yes, i can send him a message.

 

What should I tell him?

 

 

I feel like I'm being stalked on eBay

. . . Maybe he thinks I pick out the good coins out there and follows me. I don't know.

. . . What would you do to "shake him off"?

I'm sure he thinks you have a good eye as I feel I'd probably do pretty decent if I were stalking you

 

To shake him off just quit giving him notice of what you want.

 

The "Stalker" is more than likely using the eBay Advanced search Items by Bidder feature to see the items you have bid on.

 

Don't bid and just snipe the auction. I never bid in an auction with days or minutes left, but instead enter my bid into eSnipe and it bids for me with 3 seconds left in the auction. Put you max bid in, set it, and forget it - you win or loose.

 

( For those bidding on Heritage auctions you too can snipe by using GavelSnipe )

 

 

 

Why thank you

 

I used to use esnipe (I don't mind the small fee, as long as its not a high dollar item), but it sometimes fails to place a bid for me, for some reason.

I like to place a bookmark bid on the items I'm after, so that even if I forget to bid again, I get a reminder on my iPhone through the eBay app, when the item is ending soon (15 minutes before it ends). I then usually place my bid 30 seconds before the end.

I guess these bookmark bids are what he sees..? And then he just places strong bids against me, or possibly snipes it from under me.

 

It's especially annoying when I bid on an item that doesn't get much attention (blurry or bad pics, misattributed varieties, incomplete/wrong description etc..), and that's where it's usually just me against him. If it wasn't for him, I'd "steal" them off at a great price.

 

The other day, I was bidding on an extremely rare sample slab that no one seemed to notice on eBay. I was high bidder all along the 10 day auction, and he bumped it up from $30 to $99 in the last 30 seconds. I still won, and it was still a beautiful deal I got on that coin, but damn I wanted it at $30!!

I would just politely tell him that you noticed him bidding on the same coins you are and it seems consistent. Just joke with him and ask if it's coincidental or is he interested in the same coins you are. Something of that nature so as not to set him off to keep stalking your bids.

[James_OldeTowne]

How can one tell who is bidding on a coin? I thought they blanked out the names with *** or something.

EBay only started doing that something like five years ago. WAY back when, your eBay handle could even be your full email address! So back then, it was easy to follow someone's activities.

[jpcienkus]

Wow Yonico. An eBay stalker. People continue to amaze me.

[delta]

I don't understand how he finds your bids. Ebay does not allow anyone to search by bidder anymore, except for completed auctions. Please explain.

[Coindude]

Well, I will have to say that back in the day when it was easier to track bidders that I stalked certain buyers. I didn't always outbid them but on occasion I was successful. Now it's much harder to track a bidder if it is at all possible.

 

Just do what I do, don't bid on stuff you want to actually but. Set a snipe and forget it. You'll get an email notification if you win and that's all that you have to worry about. Set it and forget it, I think someone famous coined that term!

 

Here's the site I use. www.snip.pl/en

[AstroTrain]

Maybe with documented proof eBay will issue a eRestraining order?

[WoodenJefferson]

They are bidding from inside your house!

[thebeav]

They are bidding from inside your house!

 

AAaaaiiiiiieeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!

 

That's funny !

 

Paul

[johnny9434]

Make another ebay account.

just make sure ya dont hike up a few prices before you do that

[e1cnr]

You can find out who beat you quicker than feedback left - just do a bidder search of yourself.

 

I wonder if there is another country eBay site that allows you to do search by bidder while auctions are live - I remember years ago you could go to Singapore eBay and leave extremely long feedbacks. In Germany eBay, you could not search anything about anyone 10 years ago.

[drwstr123]

My little brain doesn't get it. There are 719,424 U.S. coins for sale on the Bay. How can a person find what you are bidding on?

[yonico]

Why don't you send him a message, if ebay allows that.

 

Yes, i can send him a message.

 

What should I tell him?

 

 

I feel like I'm being stalked on eBay

. . . Maybe he thinks I pick out the good coins out there and follows me. I don't know.

. . . What would you do to "shake him off"?

I'm sure he thinks you have a good eye as I feel I'd probably do pretty decent if I were stalking you

 

To shake him off just quit giving him notice of what you want.

 

The "Stalker" is more than likely using the eBay Advanced search Items by Bidder feature to see the items you have bid on.

 

Don't bid and just snipe the auction. I never bid in an auction with days or minutes left, but instead enter my bid into eSnipe and it bids for me with 3 seconds left in the auction. Put you max bid in, set it, and forget it - you win or loose.

 

( For those bidding on Heritage auctions you too can snipe by using GavelSnipe )

 

 

 

Why thank you

 

I used to use esnipe (I don't mind the small fee, as long as its not a high dollar item), but it sometimes fails to place a bid for me, for some reason.

I like to place a bookmark bid on the items I'm after, so that even if I forget to bid again, I get a reminder on my iPhone through the eBay app, when the item is ending soon (15 minutes before it ends). I then usually place my bid 30 seconds before the end.

I guess these bookmark bids are what he sees..? And then he just places strong bids against me, or possibly snipes it from under me.

 

It's especially annoying when I bid on an item that doesn't get much attention (blurry or bad pics, misattributed varieties, incomplete/wrong description etc..), and that's where it's usually just me against him. If it wasn't for him, I'd "steal" them off at a great price.

 

The other day, I was bidding on an extremely rare sample slab that no one seemed to notice on eBay. I was high bidder all along the 10 day auction, and he bumped it up from $30 to $99 in the last 30 seconds. I still won, and it was still a beautiful deal I got on that coin, but damn I wanted it at $30!!

I would just politely tell him that you noticed him bidding on the same coins you are and it seems consistent. Just joke with him and ask if it's coincidental or is he interested in the same coins you are. Something of that nature so as not to set him off to keep stalking your bids.

 

i shall try that.

will see what happens and update if i get a response

[yonico]

Wow Yonico. An eBay stalker. People continue to amaze me.

 

i know!!