# Ebay has a very serious data leak.



## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

On the German MDR television channel last Tuesday was a news item showing Ebay has a very serious data leak, that enables the seller to see with a very simple trick what your maximum bid is in the automatic bidding sequence, so he can manipulate the auction to his advantage !!

Unfortunately, the news item is only German spoken, but you can see it here (at 07:45) (you must click on Umschau - 26/11/2013). LINK

I've bought a lot of slot stuff in ebay auctions, but now I feel very cheated.

The screenshots are taken from the news item. 

Marco


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

That's *CRAZINESS*!!!

_No sellers were harmed in the making of this post._


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## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

I usually snipe, so the seller can look all he wants while he bites me lol


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## 280A (Apr 2, 2013)

The example given in the movie is striking.

The guy is selling a diving compressor.
While the auction was going on, he could see the maximum bid amounts and someone was willing to offer up to € 3500. ($ 4760 US)

The compressor was solf for € 1121 ($ 1524 US) but If he wanted he could jack up the bid amounts with a alternate identity or with the use of a friend, relative or henchman.

In this case he could make an extra $ 3000 if he wanted. 

That some sellers have used this data leak trick for years is quite clear.

I feel very, very cheated. Ebay has always said they provided a safe and fair bidding platform.

Marco


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## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

xxxxx


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## 70ss (Aug 22, 2005)

Ebay is making a profit along with Paypal with the item selling for more money. There insentive to catch shill bidders would be very low.


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## Dslot (Sep 2, 2007)

Ralphthe3rd said:


> ...but sellers would take a GREAT Risk using Shill Bidders...


I'd like to point out that a risk of great consequences, but with only a tiny probability of occurring, is not a great risk. 

How would the use of shill bidders be discovered and proven? How often has a user of shill bidders been expelled from eBay? What would keep such an expelled person from simply rejoining eBay under a different name?

-- D


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## TexMexSu (Mar 24, 2012)

There have been reported cases of that very thing happening for about 10 years now.

Mysteriously placed bids falling just short of someone's maximum just seconds from the end of the "auction".

Cases like having a high bid of $100.00 and with seconds to go the bid being raised to $99.90. Sure seems like someone knows what the high bid is in those sort of examples.

We have been ebay members for more than 15 years with thousands of great transactions but none the less it is ebay and nothing is fair.

I do not trust them at all.

The only "great risk" is using ebay at all.


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## vansmack2 (Feb 9, 2012)

Either bid at the last few seconds, or use a sniping program then you will never have this problem.


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## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

Well, whatever ! I gave up on eBay auctions, and only use their stores or Buy it now.
And personally, I never bid more than I thought the item was worth, so in general, I never won many auctions, unless everyone else was snoozing and never bid.
Same thing goes with this Private Auction site(you know the one)selling that huge slot car collection. IE- I've bid alot, but the only items I've won, were where no one else bid on the item...which was generally a non minty or common car.


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## Bubba 123 (Sep 10, 2010)

vansmack2 said:


> Either bid at the last few seconds, or use a sniping program then you will never have this problem.


I think that selling on Epay, is taking the biggest risk...
2 many times I've heard (& have had..) the buyer pull some scam..
2 get their $ back AND keep the item 

Bubba 123 :wave:


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## mrstumpy (Oct 5, 2013)

I have not been a fan of eBay for a few years after seeing the trickery allowed to go on and on while I was buying old toy trains. The hobby shop I worked for also gave up selling on eBay. There is just too much underhanded activity going on with a certain group of dealers in Lionel and American Flyer trains. I don't know if this is rampant with slot cars because I was done with eBay about the time I returned to slot cars.

As for consequences for shilling or anything else, it seems that they're just about non-existent. For instance, one crooked dealer who was caught twice before is up to his old tricks again. He was banned twice, changed his Internet name and the name of his so called "business" twice, and was able to return for a third time. 

The guys who ran the hobby shop knew him as doing shady deals at train shows since they were vendors at larger train shows. When they realized what he was doing on eBay, they reported to eBay. Nothing was ever done beyond the bannings. And within a couple of weeks he was back on eBay again! He even uses the same backgrounds in photos that he had always used, so it's not like he'd be hard for eBay to nail again. Legal action? Nope!

As was said before, it's all about them making money. Protecting either buyers or sellers doesn't appear to mean much from what I saw over seven years. I just hope that dealing in slot cars isn't as much like dancing in a minefield as with trains!

Stumpy in Ahia


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## blue55conv (May 23, 2007)

What kind of shady deals was the crooked dealer pulling on ebay?


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Stumpy's right on track:

"As for consequences for shilling or anything else, it seems that they're just about non-existent. For instance, one crooked dealer who was caught twice before is up to his old tricks again. He was banned twice, changed his Internet name and the name of his so called "business" twice, and was able to return for a third time."

***********


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## mrstumpy (Oct 5, 2013)

The dealer in question is from Kentucky. He's said to be quite a personable guy and a smooth talker, no doubt a prototype for a crooked politician. The guys who ran the hobby shop that I worked part time at for 22 years had met him at train shows and when I started buying old American Flyer trains on eBay in 2002 they warned me that he was bad news! He had been "asked" never to come back to a few toy and train shows. Supposedly he had run a small store or auction that had been closed down, so he switched to doing train and toy shows and eBay.

He would post photos of a nice locomotive or piece of rolling stock, an operating accessory, or other item. But the item shipped was NOT the item bid on, but one of lesser value. He used the same exact photo over and over, as if you could post a catalog photo and the actual condition was meaningless.
Even after being banned, he returned and used the same photos with the same background!

Another of his regular stunts was to have a "friend" or two shill up the bids on the second to last day of the item being on eBay. It was always one or two of the same "friends" EVERY time, and if they "won" the item, it invariably reappeared back on eBay under this dealer's name two weeks later. One American Flyer "Franklin" locomotive appeared at least four times before someone else actually bought it.

This guy has been talked about on some of the train Yahoo Groups and had told guys their item "must have been lost in the mail" or "your check never showed up." 

As far as I know, he does mostly collectable trains and old toys. As of last winter, he was still alive and well on eBay under his third Internet name, and still "selling" trains. I personally haven't done any eBay in four years because there were too few good buys anymore and a growing number of guys just like him. I'm told Craig's List is even more out of control.

Stumpy in Ahia


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## a110alpine (Oct 30, 2012)

i have sold a couple thousand slot car items on ebay... except for some of my custom builds i always start them at 99 cents.. most of the time the serious bidding doesn't start until the last hour even for something really rare.. no real time for snipping. some guys get some pretty good deals because a lot of old men are taking their naps.. i also buy on ebay... the key is to only bid as high as you think it is worth.. most of the time they made thousands of these little toys and no one really knows what is actually out there..if some guy on ebay gives you a second chance deal on a used slot car that should raise some flags. that cox chap 2e kit is supposed to be really rare... i know of 30+ in the sf bay area alone..one guy has 7. look at the bright side... most slot cars are now sold from estate sales. try to stay alive so you can get the car of your dreams at a bargain.. the prices are dropping.


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