Allstar 40 Posted May 16, 2015 (edited) Was watching this auction from seller Onlinebargains yesterday on friday: http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/185375473/SAMSUNG_GALAXY_NOTE_3_LTE.html Then noticed the identical listing was back on sale today on Saturday, which is obviously the very next day after the previous auction closed: Cell Phones & Smartphones - SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 3 LTE for sale in Pretoria / Tshwane (ID:185725679) Then I went and checked the ratings of fridays auction's winning bidder ZZM Mobile: User not found Checking the guys ratings, appears to buy just about exclusively from just one seller, Onlinebargains, sometimes multiple seemingly random items on the same day and both seller and buyer state their location as being in Pretoria. Over the last few months alone(just the first page of his ratings)this seller has bought(all on auction) from seller Onlinebargains, 4 x identical SMEG EXTRACTOR FAN's, 2 x identical Whirlpool dishwashers, about 16 high end smartphones, laptops, 2 x identical ORIS CAR MEDIA PLAYERS and a whole host of other goods from seller Onlinebargains. Seems a bit fishy or am I jumping to conclusions? Perhaps only the tip of the iceberg, ie the only auctions that ZZM Mobile "won"? Edited May 16, 2015 by Allstar Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vinyl Lady Decals 11 Posted May 16, 2015 Hi Admin Surely four separate posts about the same subject is a little over the top, no matter how angry the person is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
admin 8 Posted May 16, 2015 Hi Allstar, Please refrain from opening multiple posts about the same issue. The users did supply documentation and I could not find a link between them on the system. Please be assured that we will look deeper into this and I will give feedback as soon as possible. Thank you Andries Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Allstar 40 Posted May 16, 2015 (edited) My apologies, I'm not posting in anger, just noticed something out of the ordinary with the seller! I tried posting the topic multiple times when all attempts returned errors. I may have even submitted it again now, if that is the case Admin please delete the extra threads. The forum is behaving bizarrely for me today, topics have a random order, very old topics are listed as new/current, is it just me or are other people also experiencing issues? The link to the buyer ZZM Mobile is missing on my first post, here it is: All ratings received by ZZM Mobile on bidorbuy.co.za Edited May 16, 2015 by Allstar Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Allstar 40 Posted May 16, 2015 (edited) Here's another buyer that seems to buy exclusively from seller Onlinebargains auctions(never buy now sales) : All ratings received by Crazy Bargains on bidorbuy.co.za Every sellers rating received by Crazy_Bargains for the first 3 pages of ratings are from Onlinebargains auctions. Edited May 16, 2015 by Allstar Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mrmouse 12 Posted May 17, 2015 Here's another buyer that seems to buy exclusively from seller Onlinebargains auctions(never buy now sales) : All ratings received by Crazy Bargains on bidorbuy.co.za Every sellers rating received by Crazy_Bargains for the first 3 pages of ratings are from Onlinebargains auctions. online bargains may hunt for cheap goods to resell , lots of sellers do this , buy from one to sell to another Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Allstar 40 Posted May 17, 2015 online bargains may hunt for cheap goods to resell , lots of sellers do this , buy from one to sell to another Please read the thread before replying? Onlinebargains is the seller, these "buyers" win auctions virtually exclusively from Onlinebargains auctions. I have seen sellers buying from other sellers to resell but never from one single seller exclusively to this level, ever. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mrmouse 12 Posted May 17, 2015 Youre nitpicking , so crazy bargains buys lots ,,so what ,, Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Allstar 40 Posted May 18, 2015 Youre nitpicking , so crazy bargains buys lots ,,so what ,, Admin doesn't think I'm nitpicking so lets see what comes up. I see 3 solid pages of only buying from one seller on auction, all high end goods, sometimes many items on one day, as highly unusual. Well I've never seen anything like that before in all my years on Bidorbuy. ZZM Mobile has even more of the same thing and the reason this whole situation has been dredged up. Onlinebargains "sold" an item(that I was watching) to him last Friday, the very next day the same phone was on auction again at Onlinebargains. So I checked the ratings for ZZM Mobile as one does when one sees something of that nature happening... . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mrmouse 12 Posted May 18, 2015 (edited) HaHa im impressed , you answered me without shouting ,,I do see youre point , but I dont see many fights to the end , and a lot have only 2 or three people bidding , if they are prepared to spend that amount on listing fees and commisions , then good luck to them , i worry more about the sudden bidder that pops up at last moment with no history and screws me , than what they are showing on listings , I doubt its anything sinister . Edited May 18, 2015 by mrmouse Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Allstar 40 Posted May 20, 2015 Good point you make, "if they are prepared to spend that amount on listing fees and commissions , then good luck to them". Only problem is shill bidding is illegal, for good reason obviously, do you condone shill bidding as long as the seller pays the commissions if their shill bidder wins the auction? Take a calculated risk that could pay off very handsomely and have a soft out if the price is too low nearing the end of the auction, never mind that the seller utilizes the shill bidding for it's basic purpose - artificially inflate the price a legitimate bidder has to pay to win an auction. Win/Win for the seller. Basic maths at the end of the day, either the shill bidder forces legitimate bidders to up their bids to the point the seller deems acceptable or wins the bidding to prevent a loss. Makes perfect sense to rather pay R200 in Bidorbuy commissions than take a R2000 loss. At the same time this keeps Bidorbuy happy and somewhat legitimises the behaviour, Bidorbuy are getting their commissions. Though if this is the case perhaps to facilitate it someone somewhere is turning a blind eye? Go and have a look at a few of Onlinebargains old auctions, you'll see 2 bidders come up quite often immediately behind the winning bidder, ZZM Mobile and Crazy_Bargains. Lenovo X1 laptops, 3 auctions that all miraculously end at virtually R9k, guess who are right behind the winning bidders: IBM, Lenovo - LENOVO THINKPAD X1 CARBON ULTRABOOK CORE i7 MODEL 3444-F9U LAST UNIT LEFT was sold for R9,001.00 on 1 Aug at 00:01 by onlinebargains in Pretoria / Tshwane (ID:107875295) http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/119635413/LENOVO_THINKPAD_X1_CARBON_ULTRABOOK_CORE_i7_MODEL_3444_F9U_LAST_UNIT_LEFT_NOT_TO_BE_REPEATED_AGAIN.html IBM, Lenovo - LENOVO THINKPAD X1 CARBON ULTRABOOK CORE i7 MODEL 3444-F9U was sold for R9,000.00 on 10 Jul at 23:46 by onlinebargains in Pretoria / Tshwane (ID:105640654) Mrmouse you seem to be an old hand in the game, please show me just one profile similar to these buyers, they must all be buying high end goods, ie items that average in the R2- 4K price range and every single sale must be an auction and every item must be from a single seller. Find me just one buyer that has 3 pages of items bought on auction like that, all must be from just one single seller. Go ahead, make my day :smile: Look I might be wrong but I have been scanning Bidorbuy sales and their buyers for years. Never seen anything like this crop up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Allstar 40 Posted June 10, 2015 Admin any update on this? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
admin 8 Posted June 16, 2015 Hi Allstar, We have not been able to pick up any links on the system, which we need to do in order for us to take any action. Please be assured that I will personally do a check at least once a week to see if something pops up. The Head of Security is also going to give them both a phone call just to have a little chat... Regards Andries Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
