Copying other seller's shipping descriptions?

[Miss Jewels]

Well done to the loyal detectives on the forum. You all make BoBs' work so much easier.

[mellowred]

She's not called MsPlod for nothing

[MsPlod]

Please note, shill bidding is monitored and we can monitor discreet listings. From what I can see these accounts are run by different individuals who are linked in some way, and have received warnings for their indiscretions. Most shill bidding is picked up on our side on a regular basis.

They clearly are linked in some way - PrincessLou buys almost exclusively from Melbon on BoB...

All ratings received by PrincessLou from sellers on bidorbuy.co.za

and S/he is not very good at rating sellers... gives far fewer ratings than s/he gets...

S/he bids a lot unsuccessfully on Melbon's stuff too...
e.g.
Other Outdoor Sports - Outdoor 7 in 1 Multi Function Hiking Camping Survival Whistle was sold for R41.00 on 13 Apr at 23:04 by Melbon in Alrode (ID:36171055)
Charms & Pendants - LEPDELITE NATURAL GEMSTONE PENDANT was sold for R62.00 on 13 Apr at 23:16 by Melbon in Alrode (ID:36172135)
Natural Beads - Orange Aventurine Gemstone Flat Oval Beads 14 1/3" was sold for R31.00 on 11 May at 22:46 by Melbon in Alrode (ID:37561703)
etc. etc. etc. etc..... Loads of examples

Fascinating stuff...


With all due respect Cuan, BoB is often reliant on the users of the site to point out discrepancies, concerns and problems, so to state that shilling is monitored by BoB can only be partly true?

[qball]

With all due respect MsPlod - we cannot monitor every single auction whilst it is running. Reports are generated on a regular basis which looks at certain things (parameters) usually after auctions close, if these appear on the report the security team take the necessary action, however, if there is no physical link between the 2 accounts it is often difficult to prove shill bidding. We may request proof of payment from buyers/bidders.

Do you know how many auctions run concurrently - 10's of thousands. It is not possible to monitor each and every one whilst it is happening, that is why we rely on the community to assist us and we are grateful for this assistance.

[MsPlod]

All I am requesting is some sort of rethink on the parameters for discreet auctions/sales. Maybe the final buyer remains unknown, but the unsuccessful bidders could be revealed afterwards? Hmmmm?

[qball]

The parameters are in place regardless of the type of auction. What you suggest defeats the purpose of a discreet auction , plus it affects the rights to privacy of innocent bidders who do not wish to have it known that they are bidding on these types of auctions. No technology can 100% eradicate shill bidding, suspicions and opinions can be investigated but if nothing concrete comes of it, we cannot always catch all of it. Unless we can get concrete links it can boil down to pure speculation.