Back

Tiger Auction ebaY SCAM?

TAG editorial 23 Apr 2002

Though ebaY claims to be a "level playing field" anyone who has sold on the site for a while, knows that is a lie, but the irregularity of the playing field was clearly demonstrated recently by an auction for a golf outing with Tiger Woods. To start with, this auction had several ebaY illegal features, including a direct link to a web site with non-ebaY listed items for sale, and a bid increment of $25,000 (ebaY max bid increment is $100). The last two bids were " private auction -- bidders' identities protected $249,900.00 Apr-14-02 13:12:03 PDT" and "private auction -- bidders' identities protected $425,000.00 Apr-14-02 13:12:50 PDT" As anyone who has ever used ebaY knows, unless there was some interference on ebaY's part, the maximum distance between the last two bids is one bid increment - rigged in this auction at $25,000. So if this were a legitimate auction, the maximum final bid could have been no more than $274,900, due to ebaY's proxy bidding system. Some users watching the auction claim that some "creative editing" was done during and after the auction ended, and that the final bid price at auction end, was $225,100. A look at the source code shows much suspicious activity, as each bid appears to have been adjusted to take it to the ebaY non-existent $25,000 bid increment. We wonder if there were any legitimate bidders and if so, they knew they were scammed by ebaY itself.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1344127120

Oft quoted erudite power seller Snyderstr, succinctly identified the problems with the Tiger Woods auction in response to another posters concern about main stream media apathy about this kind of ebaY chicanery. Snyderstr said, "I know that the media couldn't care less. Frankly, I couldn't care less for the media, so the feeling is mutual. However, this is a *business*, and there are certain legal and ethical standards which are not only expected, but REQUIRED by law. I'm not a lawyer, and wouldn't be one on a bet, however, a contract is a contract. The User Agreement is a binding contract. That contract has been breached. It's cut and dried. It is unfair to all the OTHER signers of the contract to have it ignored with impunity without even the courtesy of a waiver or informed consent, or whatever the legal name is for breaking the existing rules on a "per case" basis. It's restraint of trade to allow ONE user privileges that others are disallowed by the very same document that the Seller had to sign to become a Member and a Seller on eBay. It's just that simple.

ebaY employees on the boards avoided addressing user concerns about this auction.


Tiger Woods Closed Auction Page

Tiger Woods Bid History