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