The Wily Filipino

eBay Psycho.

Ugh. I'm dealing with some psycho on eBay, and it's consuming more of my time than I want.

So today -- I had received one of those automatic email search results from eBay, and despite the fact that I try not to trawl eBay anymore -- I bid on this doll set and a signed CD for Izzy. I was outbid on my first try, and I thought I'd try again (raising it by $5). Still outbid. Oh well.

A couple minutes later I bid on a similar item (without the signed CD), and finally I was the highest bidder. (Coincidentally, though I didn't notice it at the time, the person I had outbid was the highest bidder on the doll/CD auction.) So far so good.

Then a few minutes later I get the following two barely-literate email messages, one after the other:

At 36.00 start withdrawing or I will report! I am NOT paying this much for something you think your winning both of? Your a criminal! I will have the whole damn internet bidding on the both of these crappy deals! Self=fish

And:

Ok So do you have to bid on BOTH of them??? One is going to be my son's birthday present I prefer this one to be his present the one with the signed cd! So please decide which one you want to bid on and quit shilling or I will report to eBay. They are watching right now and the seller may loose their privledges as this really looks bad! I promise! It is people like you that make people that have 900 possitives and REPEAT BUYING RECORD (like ME) look bad. So which will it be? Either choose you can't bid on both!!! Withdraw on one or loose both! Get it? PISSED!@ a shill bidder! copy sent to SafeHarbor

(The said eBayer actually only had 424 positives.)

So I write eBay Psycho back, in response to "Withdraw on one or loose both!":

You're kidding, right? I have no intention of withdrawing any of my bids -- I have never done that in my life; I legimately wanted the item at the price I wanted, but lucky you -- you overbid me.

If you don't really want to pay that much, perhaps you shouldn't have bid that high in the first place. Sorry.

And as a response to the accusation that I was a shill:

Please calm down. I am not a shill bidder -- never have, never will be.

I have every right to bid on both -- you already overbid me fair and square on the one with the signed CD! What right do you have to tell me not to bid on the other one?

An hour later I get the following response:

You are very right Wily. I just don't want either of us to be in trouble ok? I mean the worst that ebay will do is cancel the item and neither of us will get it and that is dumb huh? I promise I won't bother yours and you don't bother mine ok? :-) I am sorry that I out bid you but if it were not for my daughters birthday I usually just say enjoy:-) So I am not trying to be mean or anything ok? Please have a better day I promise I will -take care.

I notice that eBay Psycho's child's sex has changed, but whatever... I thought everything was cool. S/he was the highest bidder on the doll set with the signed CD; I was the highest bidder on the doll set without the CD.

Then a few hours later, I'm outbid on the doll set by eBay Psycho -- which makes her/him the highest bidder on both items. Oh well.

But then I receive the following message right afterwards:

You are still bidding against me even though you said you would not...you just wanted one. Right Dog! Did it ever occur to you I don't want to pay 50 or 100 dollars on these? BUT I WILL!?? THEN MAKE YOU EAT BOTH OF THEM :-) I warned you once so I will feel free to bid on booth too. And you could have had them all to yourself...much cheaper than what I have to pay already without you sneaking up more!!! Your NASTY! AND you give eBayers a bad name...one I won't forget soon. :-)

Somehow eBay Psycho forgot that when s/he wrote me I had already bid on both; it's already acknowledged above in her/his messages! In fact, the most recent message is moot because s/he has already outbid me on both items! (The only way I'd end up "EAT(ing) BOTH OF THEM" is if eBay Psycho withdraws her/his bids at the last minute -- but I'd still win the auction(s) at the last price I bid. And I do know someone who might want the other doll set.)

I'm looking at the bid history right now and eBay Psycho has bid on the same item eleven times! (I of course had only bid twice.)

I'll keep you folks posted on this silly saga... 20 hours to go for one, 4 days for the other... I suppose I could try to outbid this eBay Psycho on the other item, but it's already too expensive at this point (what drove the price up for the first item was the signed CD).

Posted by the wily filipino at October 5, 2005 09:29 PM