# ebay: i just don't understand **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 22, 2003, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-i-just-dont-understand/150125 "2003-01-22T02:10:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aeropl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f05b48/32.png) [@aeropl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aeropl)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-i-just-dont-understand/150125/1 "2003-01-22T02:10:54Z")
Okay, [look at this auction](http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3001100340&category=11321) . I have a couple questions about it. 1. Because those people bid on the auction, he’ll have to pay a comission (about 1.5%) of those millions of dollars. How does he get out of this? 2. Why would 4 people bid upwards of 6 million dollars on that? 3. Why doesn’t ebay regulate auctions that are millions of dollars? I’m perplexed. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-i-just-dont-understand/150125/2 "2003-01-22T02:22:52Z")
This is probably a kid screwing around and the people bidding on the auction are probably his friends. I’m sure he’ll cancel the auction or has given eBay false payment info and they’ll never get any money. He’ll eventually get booted only to reappear later under a different username. With 10+ million auctions going on at any given time, eBay just doesn’t have the time to closely examine every auction. I’ve seen these types of auctions come and go. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-i-just-dont-understand/150125/3 "2003-01-22T02:29:24Z")
Apparently they do regulate it, as the link you posted now goes to a page that says “Invalid Item”. ---
**Author:** ![truthbot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@truthbot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthbot)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-i-just-dont-understand/150125/4 "2003-01-22T02:30:27Z")
OK, I followed the link and eBay has already shut that auction off. What item was being auctioned? ---
**Author:** ![aeropl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f05b48/32.png) [@aeropl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aeropl)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-i-just-dont-understand/150125/5 "2003-01-22T02:32:51Z")
Well, my questions were answered. eBay just shut it down a few minutes ago, but the question remains: Why waste your time doing stuff like that? ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-i-just-dont-understand/150125/6 "2003-01-22T05:58:35Z")
Was this the obviously fake “Matt Groening” Simpsons drawing that was Something Awful’s “Awful Link of the Day”, by any chance? ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-i-just-dont-understand/150125/7 "2003-01-22T06:11:00Z")
On **real** auctions that have bids in the millions (or even thousands), they usually make bidders get pre-approval by calling a phone line and doing some checks. Tends to keep the bored teens from bidding. It is an interesting question though. I can pick any real auction at random that’s closing soon, and bid $10,000 on it. eBay would instantly bill the guy for his closing fee, even though he has no chance of getting the payment from me. The seller would have no chance to kill the auction. Must be a pain in the ass to resolve. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-i-just-dont-understand/150125/8 "2003-01-22T07:00:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ElwoodCuse \* > \*\*Was this the obviously fake “Matt Groening” Simpsons drawing that was Something Awful’s “Awful Link of the Day”, by any chance? \*\* Nope… just looked at it, linked from another thread. ---
**Author:** ![Caught\_Work](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/919ad9/32.png) [@Caught\_Work](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caught_Work)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-i-just-dont-understand/150125/9 "2003-01-22T10:24:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SmackFu \* > \*\*\<\\> > It is an interesting question though. I can pick any real auction at random that’s closing soon, and bid $10,000 on it. eBay would instantly bill the guy for his closing fee, even though he has no chance of getting the payment from me. The seller would have no chance to kill the auction. Must be a pain in the ass to resolve. \*\* But your bid would be proxy therefore would only up the bid by one increment (or at that amount, one increment above the highest bidder). So, if the item is currently at $10.00 and you bid $10,000.00 it would only up the bid to $10.50 (one increment). If you don’t pay up then the seller retains the right to sell to the next highest bidder, who is the likely wanna-winner anyways. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-i-just-dont-understand/150125/10 "2003-01-22T16:38:32Z")
**Repeat:** What was the item for sale? ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-i-just-dont-understand/150125/11 "2003-01-22T17:40:13Z")
"pay a comission (about 1.5%) of those millions of dollars. " Maybe. You should have listed what item it was, some only have a regular commission, like cars are $40, I think. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-i-just-dont-understand/150125/12 "2003-01-22T18:21:15Z")
**Caught@Work** : Oh yeah. Duh. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-i-just-dont-understand/150125/13 "2003-01-22T19:09:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ArchiveGuy \* > \*\ ***Repeat:** What was the item for sale? \*\* Some sort of used PS2 game. ---
**Author:** ![aeropl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f05b48/32.png) [@aeropl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aeropl)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-i-just-dont-understand/150125/14 "2003-01-22T21:28:08Z")
The item was an old PS2 game, a really crappy one. The description went roughly like this: "this is a game i found in the dumpster behind my apartment. it’s really scratched and doesn’t work. i lost the book and the case. my cat peed on it. " There were 4 bids, and the price was above 99 million dollars before it got shut down.