sometimes I see funny e-bid auctions bidded up to millions or billions of dollars…
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2914060081&category=1469
that one for example (joke from a cartoon that claimed it was going to sell something his burrido on e-bay when the cartoon was done)
does anyone end up actually paying for things like that? not billions of dollars odviously… but what happens in situations like this? the person just looses his auction and the money he spent to post it?
When you place an auction on Ebay, as far as I remember from when I was thinking about selling something, you don’t pay up front. When you sell your item, you pay Ebay a commission fee, a certain percentage of whatever amount you got for it. The prankster doesn’t lose any money for making a joke auction, but Ebay probably doesn’t like it, so the guy might lose his account.
But read their auction rules and see what they say.
EBay charges a posting fee upfront that is based on the minimum bid; it can range from .30 to 3.30. Then, at the close of the auction, a commision is assessed, based on the selling price, ranging from 1.5-5.25%.
More info:
A couple of weeks ago there was a carrot with a vagina type shape in it (but a regular carrot none the less) that was up to 16000 dollars. The seller made sure to add the comment that while he was sure that most of the bids were jokes, the winning bidder will have entered in to a legally binding contract and will have to pay. I went after the auction was over to see what it finished at and I coulnd’t find it. Ebay must have pulled it. I guess it must break one of their rules.
owlofcreamcheese, seller has no feedback, so most likely its a fake account.
I don't know why someone with positive feedback is bidding on it (look at bidding history), but they drop their bids if they want. Seller should right now close the auction & sell to that high bidder. lolI totally don’t understand auctions like that. I can see if that guy maybe got four of his friends to bid just to be funny, but now its at $15,000 and 30 bids? I started a thread asking these same questions a few weeks ago. I can’t find it in a search though. It was someone selling a old videogame that he “found in the dumpster.”
For non-reserve auctions, the non-refundable listing fee is $3.30. He also ends up paying a fee based on the closing bid price, which is as follows for auctions closing at over $1,000:
5.25% of the initial $25 ($1.31),
plus 2.75% of the initial $25 - $1000 ($26.81),
plus 1.50% of the remaining closing value balance ($1000.01 - closing value)
Obviously people that joke around use a fake credit card or never pay the fees.
Think hard about this and you just might figure out whats going on…
drachillix
Think hard about this and you just might figure out whats going on…
Today, it looks like I’m especially dense. The only thing I can think of is eBay trying to show a lesser profit and executives pocketing the extra money.
heheh I love Strongbad hes my hero 
Though it doesn’t relate to this specific auction [for a half-eaten burrito, should the ebay listing disappear], one form of fake bidding occurs as a type of self-policing by ebay buyers.
For example: A suspicious auction of a just-announced or not-yet-released professional digital camera may attract attention from photography enthusiasts who (in addition to alerting others at online forums) will spiral bids into millions of dollars to prevent unknowing bidders getting cheated, should the auction not be pulled.
Seems like a dangerous practice to me – it seems likely that at least some of these auctions are going to be legit, and if you’re the dude with the high bid at the end of the day, you’ve entered into a legally enforceable contract.
–Cliffy
This one was mentioned on a pretty popular web site known for hiding “extras” around its weekly updates, so it’s no wonder it got so much attention.
The weekly cartoon is “Strong Bad Emails”, http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail.html
click on “English Paper” to find out where this auction started.
“English Paper” featured a gag auction page hidden (click on “The Cheat’s allowance” in the last sentence of the report that pops up at the end), but these eBay guys took the gag and ran with it. (One of the auctions prematurely ended because the King of Town ate the burrito, or so says “Homestar.”)
Mobo “The Yellow Dart” 85