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Ebay Seller relisting winning item??

jojuvan

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I was bidding on some Wyndham points, but I did not win the item. Someone else did. Not even 24 hours later I got an email saying the seller relisted the same item. How is this possible? Is this a gimmick? Does he REALLY have the points to sell? The seller seems reputable, and reviews are decent... but I'm leary of why he would repost the same item not even 24 hours later? It was more like 12 hours later....
 

wackymother

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I would send him a message through eBay. It's possible that the winning bidder dropped out and the seller relisted automatically.
 

davidvel

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It's also possible that it is a shill situation, where the seller puts in false bids from another account to drive up price. If others don't bite enough, the winning bidder does not exist. Seller then has to relist, trying again.

If sale fell through, usually the next highest bidder would get an email if its a true auction and reserve was met.
But it's hard to know either way.
 

TheTimeTraveler

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I was bidding on some Wyndham points, but I did not win the item. Someone else did. Not even 24 hours later I got an email saying the seller relisted the same item. How is this possible? Is this a gimmick? Does he REALLY have the points to sell? The seller seems reputable, and reviews are decent... but I'm leary of why he would repost the same item not even 24 hours later? It was more like 12 hours later....



Sometimes Buyers get Buyers Remorse after winning and back out.

Also, I don't believe Real Estate transactions are binding on eBay as everything must be in writing and signed by both buyer and seller.



.
 

dgalati

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I agree with davidvel Any time you see a buyer with a 5 or less feed back usually it is a shill bidder running up a bid. If the seller wasn't in on the shill bidding and the first bidder backed out normally you would of gotten a second chance offer to buy. This happens a lot on the private identity sales also.
 

dgalati

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I was bidding on some Wyndham points, but I did not win the item. Someone else did. Not even 24 hours later I got an email saying the seller relisted the same item. How is this possible? Is this a gimmick? Does he REALLY have the points to sell? The seller seems reputable, and reviews are decent... but I'm leary of why he would repost the same item not even 24 hours later? It was more like 12 hours later....
Always ask for a copy of the estoppel or ownership letter before bidding.
 

SmithOp

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You are right to be leery, eBay is full of scammy sellers. Keep looking around there are plenty of other opportunities.

A lot of them copy the same ad over and over, its easier than creating it new every time.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 

jojuvan

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So I did email him and ask what happened. He said the bidder backed out. I looked at the bidders and you are correct, 2 bidders with 0 stars were bidding higher than me. I offered him an offer $100 less than the winning bid (that was apparently backed out on). He came back with $100 MORE than what the winning bid was. Back and fourth.. and finally he settled on the same price as the winning bid. BUT.. now that I hear about this shill bidding... that makes me leary. The seller has 53 reviews, 5 out of 5. Seems to be reputable... What can happen if this is fraud? Can I get my money back? What would you do? Would you pay the bid amount, knowing this guy possibly was drivng up the bidding? I looked at other sales of the same property and the average winning price is $50 less than what he's wanting me to pay.
 

5finny

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If I was not 100% comfortable (or 99% to be honest) I would back out and look for a seller I had confidence in.
Search TUG to see if there are any comments on your seller (good or bad)
Good Luck
If you decide to go forward pay with credit card and know the time you have to contest your charges with your company
Also get in writing that deal will close within that time
This is still not a guarantee but does increase your chances of getting your money back if you are being scammed
 

dgalati

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So I did email him and ask what happened. He said the bidder backed out. I looked at the bidders and you are correct, 2 bidders with 0 stars were bidding higher than me. I offered him an offer $100 less than the winning bid (that was apparently backed out on). He came back with $100 MORE than what the winning bid was. Back and fourth.. and finally he settled on the same price as the winning bid. BUT.. now that I hear about this shill bidding... that makes me leary. The seller has 53 reviews, 5 out of 5. Seems to be reputable... What can happen if this is fraud? Can I get my money back? What would you do? Would you pay the bid amount, knowing this guy possibly was drivng up the bidding? I looked at other sales of the same property and the average winning price is $50 less than what he's wanting me to pay.
I would walk away from this deal it smells fishy to me. Who is the seller? Also ask for the estoppel letter to make sure what you are buying is as described.
 

bogey21

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It's also possible that it is a shill situation, where the seller puts in false bids from another account to drive up price. If others don't bite enough, the winning bidder does not exist. Seller then has to relist, trying again.

This is my guess...

George
 

wackymother

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Honestly, almost all eBay sellers are kind of fishy. I suspect they all use shill bidding. If you want the week, I would proceed with caution. Get the estoppel letter before you send money so you can be sure that you are buying what they advertised.
 

vacationtime1

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Your real protection would be an independent escrow company, but most eBay sellers have captive closing companies which do as instructed and provide no protection to you.

And yes, an estoppel is an absolute necessity before you put a dollar into escrow (note: this means an estoppel provided by the management company, not one created by the seller).

Who is the seller? Some us may have direct experience with him/her/it.
 

chapjim

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I would walk away from this deal it smells fishy to me. Who is the seller? Also ask for the estoppel letter to make sure what you are buying is as described.

Could be right but I there are benign explanations for the seller's actions. The most obvious one pointed out earlier -- that the first buyer backed out.

If it was me, I'd ask the seller what's up.
 

timesharepro

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Honestly, almost all eBay sellers are kind of fishy. I suspect they all use shill bidding. If you want the week, I would proceed with caution. Get the estoppel letter before you send money so you can be sure that you are buying what they advertised.

I have been selling timeshares on eBay for over 13 years and have never shill bid. Why? It isn't worth the time, and most importantly if eBay catches you they will shut you down. I know this because years ago I had an employee that was let go, and was unhappy. He decided to bid crazy amounts on all of my auctions with his personal eBay account from his phone in the parking lot. I had over 50 auctions going at that time. The PIA part of all this is that eBay doesn't have an option to cancel bids on all auctions from one user, so he knew I would have to go in and cancel them individually. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Instead, eBay's system flagged our auctions for shill bidding and cancelled them all. 72 hours later and too many hours on the phone with eBay all the auctions were back up, and lots of explaining was done to all the bidders who were previously bidding.

For someone who only lists a handful of higher end timeshares, then shill bidding might be worth it, but for me I simply want to sell the thing and move on. I did the numbers years ago and roughly 30% of high bidders on eBay do not follow through with their purchase. It is probably a bit lower now as less people are buying timeshares on the resale market. They either never respond or respond with their info to draft up a contract and then never sign and pay. My blocked bidder list on eBay is over 10,000 bidders.

Yes, there are plenty of fishy sellers out there who are not on the up and up. However, there are some of us who strive to have the most complete information as possible, respond as soon as we get a question, and will happily send any ownership documents or estoppels even while the auction is running.

Unfortunately, I can't know every little detail about every timeshare or club. When we don't put information on the listing that someone feels is vital, it isn't because we are trying to hide something. Most of the time that information isn't provided to us on the estoppel, or it isn't something that we know is important to the perspective bidders.

Buyers remorse does happen fairly often. It is cheaper for us to offer a second chance offer than relist it, but perhaps that seller isn't aware of that.

You would be surprised how many people I talk to on a weekly basis who don't understand how the bidding process works. They think that as soon as they put in $1,000 bid it will automatically go up to $1,000 with no other bidders.
 

SteelerGal

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I have purchased several TS off of EBay. Haven’t had an issue yet. I have found that at times the newer sellers may have worked at a larger organization.
If in doubt, talk to the seller.
 

PamMo

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Exp.resale.

The seller has had three eBay ID's since Feb 2017, which is always a red flag to me. Why the name changes?

User ID Effective Date End Date
exp.resale Sep-10-18 Present
dbmd.resale Feb-23-17 Sep-10-18
n********e Feb-22-17 Feb-23-17
I don't like sending money to someone I have trust issues with from the start. But, I see some of their listings have minimal costs to buyers (seller pays closing costs and transfer fees), and you can use a credit card to pay for the timeshare. If it's something you really want and the price is low (I see you can get some for $49), you could give them a try, but pay with a credit card, follow up regularly with their closing agent, and do NOT let it go past the date where you can dispute it with your credit card (usually 60 or 90 days). Then please let us know how the sale/transfer went. It's good to have a TUG database on eBay sellers who deliver what they advertise.
 

TheTimeTraveler

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The seller has had three eBay ID's since Feb 2017, which is always a red flag to me. Why the name changes?

User ID Effective Date End Date
exp.resale Sep-10-18 Present
dbmd.resale Feb-23-17 Sep-10-18
n********e Feb-22-17 Feb-23-17
I don't like sending money to someone I have trust issues with from the start. But, I see some of their listings have minimal costs to buyers (seller pays closing costs and transfer fees), and you can use a credit card to pay for the timeshare. If it's something you really want and the price is low (I see you can get some for $49), you could give them a try, but pay with a credit card, follow up regularly with their closing agent, and do NOT let it go past the date where you can dispute it with your credit card (usually 60 or 90 days). Then please let us know how the sale/transfer went. It's good to have a TUG database on eBay sellers who deliver what they advertise.




I won't buy a timeshare on eBay from a Timeshare Postcard Company UNLESS the seller allows me to use my closing company to handle everything (plus the escrow). I use LT Transfers and so far no one has taken me up on my offer. I feel these sellers have something to hide.

I know a lot of the eBay Timeshare sellers don't have a "clue" as to what they are doing, or have no intention of doing anything. Under most circumstances there should be no reason for one to wait six months to obtain title. The seller has your money and there is really no incentive to rush anything. And some sellers simply take the money and are gone (and keep changing their eBay user Identifications). There was a company in Tennessee that kept doing that and just kept screwing the public. If you search threads you can read all about it.

If you have any doubt about the purchase then simply ask the seller if you can handle the closing and transfer at your expense and see what they say. If they are truly legit then they shouldn't have any issues with it.




.
 

TheTimeTraveler

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The seller has had three eBay ID's since Feb 2017, which is always a red flag to me. Why the name changes?

User ID Effective Date End Date
exp.resale Sep-10-18 Present
dbmd.resale Feb-23-17 Sep-10-18
n********e Feb-22-17 Feb-23-17
I don't like sending money to someone I have trust issues with from the start. But, I see some of their listings have minimal costs to buyers (seller pays closing costs and transfer fees), and you can use a credit card to pay for the timeshare. If it's something you really want and the price is low (I see you can get some for $49), you could give them a try, but pay with a credit card, follow up regularly with their closing agent, and do NOT let it go past the date where you can dispute it with your credit card (usually 60 or 90 days). Then please let us know how the sale/transfer went. It's good to have a TUG database on eBay sellers who deliver what they advertise.



One thing I always question is any Ebay Seller running bids as: "Private Listing -- Bidders' Identities Protected".

All bidders identities are protected anyways; it does prevent a legitimate bidder from figuring out if "Shill" bidders are involved. I do not understand why a seller would do this unless there is something they want to hide. You can't trust someone like that.

Therefore I personally would not do any business with Ebay Seller: exp.resale




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needvaca

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I’ve bought 3 timeshares recently from eBay, and I never send them my credit card info until they send me a copy of the deed or estoppel and recent maintenance paid statement. All 3 sellers did this quickly upon me asking. Once you pay, stay on them at least every other day to ensure their title company is preparing the deed and submitting it to the appropriate county. You should get a copy of the accepted deed transfer with the county recorder stamp emailed to you by the title company within 30 days (mine have ranged from 5-20 days). If it’s after 30 days, tell them you will cancel your credit card transaction if it doesn’t happen in another 15 days or so. If resort has ROFR, it could take longer.
 

jojuvan

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Wow, thank you all for the info!!! I never knew this about ebay bidding and scams and changing user names. I will not do business with this guy.... hopefully I can find a deal with a reputable ebay agent or here on this page. Thanks again!!!
 

Jan M.

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Wow, thank you all for the info!!! I never knew this about ebay bidding and scams and changing user names. I will not do business with this guy.... hopefully I can find a deal with a reputable ebay agent or here on this page. Thanks again!!!
,

You even have to be careful about some resellers here on TUG who had a good reputation in the past.

We've owned for 17 years and bought developer. I've made no bones about it that back then I wouldn't have touched resale on a bet or a dare. I'd heard too many horror stories; pretty much everyone had. Timeshares had a really bad reputation for many years and people would look at you like you were a gullible fool when you said you had a timeshare. By the time I bought our first resale in 2012 thanks to so much more information easily obtained online I had no qualms about buying resale. In this past year or so we are seeing a resurgence of scams with resale.

I've seen a lot of good information and will add this. Just because someone has used a reseller in the past with no problems don't think you are safe. The resellers seem to be falling like dominoes this year. Not sure if it is them, the closing companies they are using or some of both. Pay with PayPal and a credit card linked to your PayPal account when you can and if the reseller doesn't do PayPal at least pay by credit card. Stay on top of things all the way through. Before it hits the 60 day mark if you're buying Wyndham points you can call Wyndham to verify that they've received the paperwork. Don't accept an estoppel that is more than a couple of months old.

The safest way to go right now is to buy directly from the owner him/herself. They can even send you screenshots of their account showing what they own and their maintenance fees. The people at LT Transfers are fantastic about holding both yours and the sellers hands and walking you through the process.
 
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