International Aroid Society

Has anyone else but me noticed the "bidding bot"? I can bid on an item that has seen no bids in days, and in a matter of seconds, I receive an email saying I have been outbid. The first time it happened, I wet back to bid again, only to get the email again in a matter of seconds. I didn't feel like upping my bid again, so I let it go. Lo and behold, as soon as the auction expired, I got a different email, this one saying I had a second chance to buy the item at the price of my last bid. I did. So after that, I took a different approach: bid once, and ignore the notice saying I had been outbid. Sure enough, as soon as the auction expires, I always get the notice of my "second chance" to buy at the price I bid.

Now, I cannot prove there is a bot involved -- certainly don't know the name of any such bot -- but I can think of no other explanation. Also, it seems to be used mainly by sellers located in Asia (selling things other than plants).

Jason Hernandez

Naturalist-at-Large

Message: 1
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:57:51 -0500 (EST)
From: The Silent Seed <santoury@aol.com>
Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] Off-Topic ebay question
To: aroid-l@www.gizmoworks.com
Message-ID: <8CEBF91DDBA8C60-1D34-4C375@webmail-d029.sysops.aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=3D"us-ascii"

Some sellers list an item with "other" names, just so that their item shows up in your search. It bugs me, but it's a way to get more people to "walk by" your item.

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-----Original Message-----
From: Susan B <honeybunny442@yahoo.com>
To: Discussion of aroids <aroid-l@www.gizmoworks.com>
Sent: Wed, Feb 22, 2012 10:53 am
Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] Off-Topic ebay question

Just like the person that sells Naked Ladies Amaryllis but lists them as Amorphophallus, probably not much you can do, or ebay will ignore you if you complain.

From: Ken Mosher <ken@spatulacity.com>
To: Aroid list <aroid-l@gizmoworks.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 12:26 AM
Subject: [Aroid-l] Off-Topic ebay question

I wanted to ask this group a somewhat OT question because there are lots
of heavy eBay users here. I discovered this seller
(http://stores.ebay.com/7servant7/) who has so very many questionable,
if not outright fraudulent listings. (See the rainbow rose seeds as an
example of the worst offense, item 160733406329). I've investigated
eBay's listing policies and there doesn't seem to be any way to report
her; I can't find any specific rule she's breaking. It shows a real
flaw in the eBay system that I had never discovered - I can list a
"left-handed skyhook" for sale and there's not much anyone can do about it!

I would like to make it my life's work to shut this woman down if
someone has a clue as to how it can be done. eBay simply doesn't seem
to have a procedure for something like this. I feel myself starting a
rant so I'll just hit send before I lose it completely...

-Ken
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