Artificial inflation of prices during auctions

[groundctrl]

Ok, so this is mostly guesswork, but how many of you know or believe this practice is going on? Let me give you an example:
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Seller: Hi, I have domain XXX.com, I'm bidding starts at X.

Buyer1: Oh nice! I bid XX.

Buyer2: XX++

Buyer1: XXX

etc.

Seller: I have just received a bid of XXXX via PM.
-----
I'm not pointing to any particular auction, but I do notice this happening. The fact that we're not all in the same room means that a seller can say he's received a bid for whatever amount, making people bid above that. If no one bids above this artificial price, dude can say that the buyer backed out.

Am I being a conspiracy theorist here?

 

[Spade]

Am I being a conspiracy theorist here?

Not at all, I have no doubt this is common practice. It happens all the time, which is why I choose to stay away from these types of auction formats, or atleast if I hold them, ask that all bidders post in the thread to keep it honest, and make sure its not a "Multi Thread" auction.

 

[Name Trader]

You are always free to walk away if you think you see this happening. I do.

 

[mvl]

Before I bid in an auction I usually take a moment to write down for myself my max bid for that domain and I stick to that, even if someone else beats my max by 1 dollar.

 

[sanne]

I try to be wary of this in any auction type situation. On the other hand, if you do your research and stick to your budget, it won't have much affect on you. You either win the name for what it's worth to you or you let it go. If you lose out to a fake bidder, you'll find the name up for sale again soon anyway.

The problem is getting caught up in a bidding war and going over your budget, that's where they take advantage of you. Just draw the line beforehand, know when to say when and remember there's always going to be another name on the horizon.

 

[groundctrl]

Ok, now what about duplicate user accounts? Someone could easily create duplicate names to outbid each other and other users, couldn't they?

 

[champ_rock]

well i recieve a bid by mistake through my PM then i usually mention that ABCDEFG person has bid XX via PM so that anyone can verify that

 

[Domainate.com]

Ok, so this is mostly guesswork, but how many of you know or believe this practice is going on? Let me give you an example:
-----
Seller: Hi, I have domain XXX.com, I'm bidding starts at X.

Buyer1: Oh nice! I bid XX.

Buyer2: XX++

Buyer1: XXX

etc.

Seller: I have just received a bid of XXXX via PM.
-----
I'm not pointing to any particular auction, but I do notice this happening. The fact that we're not all in the same room means that a seller can say he's received a bid for whatever amount, making people bid above that. If no one bids above this artificial price, dude can say that the buyer backed out.

Am I being a conspiracy theorist here?

Well, if they repeatedly do that, people will catch on and that person will earn a bad reputation. If they are in truth getting PM offers and wind up selling it, then there's nothing wrong with that. Bottom line, you should never base a price you'll pay for a name on what someone else is paying for it. As long as you operate in that way, then you won't care if someone does this trying to illicit bids, as they're only spinning their wheels and not selling their name.

 

[jaydub]

True words Steve.

Bottom line, you should never base a price you'll pay for a name on what someone else is paying for it.

I see people getting excited about the "I have received $xxx offer via PM". It doesn't matter. If you want to pay a price...pay it. If not ... don't.
If the seller is BSing...and their name doesn't sell...they have only screwed themselves.
I am a person who often bids/offers via PM for privacy reasons. I am just sick of people seeing me buy a name and getting PM's for some name they own.
These forums also get indexed and I don't particularly want end users to do a google and make a fuss because I want more than I paid for it.