EBAY SCAM: SECOND CHANCE OFFER

This is what I would call a "novice scam" - the reason being that is often backfires.

What the seller has his own selling account and a second account in which is used just to bid.  The seller puts up an auction, lets it run its coarse until the very end.  Shortly before the auction ends, the seller places a bid on his own item with his second account and PURPOSELY outbids the other bidders!  (Bidding on his own auctions is in itself against ebay's policy, but when only placing a single bid such as this, it would be almost impossible to catch - see my other FREE GUIDES to learn about SHILL BIDDING).

At this point the auction has ended and the seller has won his own item with a different user ID!  So you're asking yourself, why in the world would a seller do this?  What the seller does next is he/she gives the second highest bidder a second chance offer on the item (usually claiming the winning bidder backed out).  Then either the second highest bidders takes the offer (since the bidder already placed a bid for that amount, it is fairly likely they will still be willing to buy the item for that price), or they do not take it and the seller is stuck with winning his own item.

So what was the seller thinking?!?!  The seller's goal was to get the most for his item; by outbidding the second highest bidder he can offer a second chance offer to that bidder for their MAXIMUM BID! 

Here is an example of when this works:

Seller puts an item up for auction and has 3 bids on it.  One was for $10, one for $20, and one for $30.  This would mean that the current bid for the item would be only $20.50.  If the seller steps in at the end and bids $40, then the seller will win his own item for $30.50.  Next he will almost immediately send the second chance offer to the second higehst bidder for their max bid of $30, and if that bidder takes the offer, he will have made $9.50 MORE then he would have had he not bid on his own item.  The seller also has a back up plan - if the second bidder does not go for the offer, the seller can then offer the third highest bidder a second chance offer - for their max bid of $20.  If this bidder accepts it then the seller only ends up losing $0.50 (selling for $20.00 instead of the $20.50 it would have ended for had he not interferred).

HOW TO IDENTIFY THIS:

The most obvious way to identify this is by how quickly you are offered a second chance offer on an item.  Usually the seller will offer it MINUTES after the auction ends (where as a normal second chance offer takes place a week or so after an auction ends).

This is a "novice scam" because it is more work then it is worth and even if the seller can get away with it, it does not always pay off (since there is no obligation for the other bidders to accept the offer).

LEARN ABOUT OTHER EBAY SCAMS - SEE MY OTHER FREE GUIDES!