WARNING TO EBAY USERS

warning warning warning - if you use ebay and you are bidding on somthing from antiques@midcoast.com and you see that t22 t27 or other names close to that are also bidding, "GET OUT" they are friends and they help each other to drive their auctions up!!!! I tell you this because antiques@midcoast.com has a lot of very nice oilers and other engine related items out there now. if you cross check the items you will see what I am talking about. I have reported it to Ebay and they admit that they are seen a lot on each others auctions and that they are both from Maine, but thats the end of it. I know these people and I assure you that they are working together. So all I will say is beware !!!!

Its called shilling ---and eBay gets paid either way ,even if you get cheesed off and stiff the vendor so go figure .

I looked at the auctions by this seller, and at the bid patterns of t22, t27, and t37. t22 and t37 appear to be the same person (not an illegal or unusual occurrence on eBay). t27 is inactive recently, with no bids on anything in months.

t37 has bid on 5 auctions in recent months, including 3 belonging to the seller you're accusing of shilling. t37 has bid on other auctions, as well.

Perhaps I'm missing something; maybe you know more about these folks than their auction history shows. But I see no evidence of shill bidding. Just regular bidders in a nich collectible field--not an uncommon occurrence.

I had 20 auctions close tonight. You'll see three bidders who bid on 4 or 5 of my auctions, and these same bidders have been doing so for months. They do that because I treat them right. They win some, and lose some. They aren't shill bidders.

In my experience, eBay will take decisive action when presented with substantial evidence of shill bidding. I don't see that here. Maybe they know each other. So what? All I saw is that the originator of this thread was outbid by t37 on an auction.

Which brings me to my real point....did the originator of this thread do the seller in question the courtesy of inviting him here, so the other side of the story could be heard? Or is it just easier to slander someone behind their back?

In response to Steve, Yes you are correct, I was outbid on an item by T22. That is when I realized that they are up to their "old tricks." This happened one other time and they got a little heat and backed off for a while. And yes I do know the people in question and they are well know here in New England. As I stated in the beginning, take this infomation and use it however you would like! MIKE

For what it is worth, I recently bid on a 2 1/2 inch pipe threading head and was the only bidder with no reserve. The seller refused to sell it to me and finally did after being contacted as result of my complaint to Safe Harbour. When recieved, the merchandise actually had 3 inch dies and were mismatched at that, making it virtually useless. Plainly marked in view to the seller. Ebay then told me that they regretted the misrepresentation and there was nothing that they could do about it anyway. All they can do is make a loud noise and try to scare you into compliance.