Scams Against Buyers
Part 1: Intro - Scams against Buyers
Part 2: The Empty Box Shipping Scam
Part 3: The "Expensive Phone Book Scam" or "Reach Out & Rob Someone"
Part 4: Shill Bidding
Part 5: Wrong Descriptions: The Old Bait and Switch routine
Part 6: Bid Siphoning
Part 7: The Overpriced Shipping Scam
Bid Siphoning
Bid siphoning is a truly nasty con, pure and simple. This scam should be squarely filed under the "too good to be true" heading... The way it works is like this: You have been bidding on an item, but when the auction ends, your bid did not win. Shortly after the sale, some eager seller contacts you announcing that low and behold, they specialize in that particular treasure you happen to desire, and happen to have one of them in stock.
They are of course, happy to let you buy the item directly from them, outside of the auction house where they spotted you. This cuts out the middle man, less cost for you and less fees for them they say. Everybody wins (except the auction website, of course). So, you pay your money, and... you guessed it- you never receive the item. Welcome to the bid siphoning scam.
This is not to say that all deals transacted outside of the auction house will end up this way. Sometimes, you may meet fellow auctioneers with high feedback and similar trading interests with whom you develop a relationship. You might have future commerce with these parties that is mutually beneficial to you both. Ebay and other houses recognize this, and with their "make a second offer" program, have started trying to reach out to buyers and sellers in some of these situations.
However, auction websites for the most part, do not want you to deal outside of their in house process. This is understandable; not only does it cut in to their profit margin, they genuinely want to limit the fraud experienced by their users. Thus, if you get burned while doing a deal outside of their system, you will not have access to their insurance, guarantees, feedback, buyer or seller protection, etc.
Just use common sense if you suspect bid siphoning- be wary of anyone who tries to entice you away from the auction site to do business. They may be offering a good deal, which may in fact be legitimate. But if it turns out to be con, don't expect to look to the auction house for sympathy. They won't have an obligation to help you in this situation.
Back to Auction Fraud Part 5: The Old Bait and Switch routine
Read Auction Fraud Part 7: The Overpriced Shipping Scam
