Post #683934 by kohalacharms on Sat, Jun 29, 2013 1:38 PM

Another, unrelated, eBay ploy that I highly suspect occurs but cannot prove is that some sellers place bids on there own auctions utilizing another eBay account /ID in order to either peak greater interest in their listing by creating the illusion that the item is in high demand and/or to drive-up the winning bid. If the seller inadvertently finds that their ploy backfires and that their own bid is the winning bid, they contact the second highest bidder and offer to sell them the auction item for their highest bid secondary to the fact that they either have an 'identical spare' or the auction winner has backed-out of the transaction. I've been the recipient of many such offers over the years. My response is always the same, I'm willing to purchase the item for $1 more than the third place bidder. If there was a bidding war between myself and the auction winner, I offer $1 more than the highest bid placed by another bidder other than the winner.