Possibe shill bid warning (Emergency Call Ambulance) eBay

[Radiac]

I've had good experiences in my dealings with Nate. He's actually hoooked me up with some great deals on project machines. I've only purchased one machine via ebay from them, and I had no issues with shilling.

FWIW, they (Palmentere) had a Namco auction several months ago. There were many Emergency Call Ambulances at the auction. The auctioneer got sick of selling them at what he perceived to be low prices, so he passed on quite a few of them. Thus, Palmentere was left with several ECAs to unload.

Therefore, the multiple auctions for what seems to be the same machine may actually be for different ones. Personally, I would take pictures of each one, but they have a lot of machines to move, so I can see them not wanting to take new pics for basically the same game. The low prices these are bringing probably does little to encourage them to spend any more time on the auction than they have to.

Of course, these are just my experiences with the seller and one possible explanation of the perceived shilling. YMMV

 

[cdjump]

plain and simple - when i signed up for an ebay account, i agreed to their terms and conditions. When the seller signed up for an account, they agreed to their terms and conditions.
Ebay says no shill bidding period. Therefore, anyone shill bidding is in the wrong. Is it theft? If it happened to you, i'd be willing to bet you'd think it was.
Of course, waiting until an auction is nearly over, and bidding what your willing to pay, your assured to never pay more than you want to, and also, not being shilled. This is the real reason to snipe.

 

[teknomedic]

I've had good experiences in my dealings with Nate. He's actually hoooked me up with some great deals on project machines. I've only purchased one machine via ebay from them, and I had no issues with shilling.

FWIW, they (Palmentere) had a Namco auction several months ago. There were many Emergency Call Ambulances at the auction. The auctioneer got sick of selling them at what he perceived to be low prices, so he passed on quite a few of them. Thus, Palmentere was left with several ECAs to unload.

Therefore, the multiple auctions for what seems to be the same machine may actually be for different ones. Personally, I would take pictures of each one, but they have a lot of machines to move, so I can see them not wanting to take new pics for basically the same game. The low prices these are bringing probably does little to encourage them to spend any more time on the auction than they have to.

Of course, these are just my experiences with the seller and one possible explanation of the perceived shilling. YMMV

If that's the case then cool beans, but you'd think they'd at least remove the "cabinet over heat" error picture if it's of another machine.

If I was local I'd stop in there and see what they have, but in my search for an ECA I just can't bid on a eBay auction like this one currently. I don't need a mint machine, but I do require the electronics to be working correctly.

As I said, when I spoke with Nate he did seem willing to help and did email me extra pictures of the machine, but he never made any mention of having other ECAs available if the "cabinet over heat" one wasn't what I was looking for.

 

[WadeLanham]

I'm with Lyons on the shilling, yeah, it sucks if someone drives the prices up, but my feeling on that is "buyer beware" and only bid what you're willing to pay. There are SO many folks on ebay that are shilling and you'll never prove it or get your money back, so just live with it and work around it. Use your brain. And no, I don't think shilling is "stealing," it might be against ebay terms, and it is dishonest, but it's how a real auction works. The seller has the ability to keep raising his price to get more out of you, or until you back out.

That said, I wouldn't personally shill, but I'm not that devious. Generally, I'll just put something on ebay with a starting bid at the minimum I'll accept, and just let it run its course.

Wade

 

[SuperSprint]

Of course, waiting until an auction is nearly over, and bidding what your willing to pay, your assured to never pay more than you want to, and also, not being shilled. This is the real reason to snipe.

With automated bidding tools, you can snipe a shill bid as well. As a matter of fact, it's cheaper to the seller to set no reserve on an item and then establish a floor price with an automated shill bidder.