eBay "BUY IT NOW" winning bid seems suspicious...

[Alex]

I was watching an item on eBay. Nobody had bid on it. With less than two minutes remaining on the auction, someone won the auction using the "BUY IT NOW" feature.

This methodology is either idiotic or suspicious. You don't wait until the last minute or two before the end of an auction and then use the "Buy it Now" feature. If one waits until the end of an auction before bidding, one should bid a buck under the "Buy it Now" price and then if no one else bids on it, you get it for the bid minimum rather than the "Buy it Now" price.

If someone is going to wait until the close of an eBay auction to make a "Buy it Now" bid, they most likely are in cahoots with the seller or they just don't comprehend bidding strategy. You NEVER wait until the close of an auction to "Buy it Now". Perhaps they were afraid someone else was going to "Buy it Now" at the close of auction and beat them to the punch???

Huh?

That goes completely against the strategy of "Buy it Now" unless the "Buy it Now" rules have changed. As I understand it, the "Buy it Now" feature disappears once anybody makes a bid on auction item.

Perhaps the buyer either did not understand "Buy it Now" strategy or the buyer is in cahoots with the seller to prevent someone else from winning the item for well under the "Buy it Now Price". Since there was no reserve on the item, perhaps the buyer wanted to make sure no one "low-balled" the item just before the close of the auction.

The only other option I can come up with is if the "The Buy it Now" rules have changed.

In the past, the "Buy it Now" feature, if it is offered, disappears once the first bid is made on an auction.

Perhaps eBay has changed the way "Buy it Now" works?

Any explanations that would explain the winners motivation for using the "Buy it Now" feature so close to the end of the auction wold be greatly appreciated.

Why did the Auction winner "Buy it Now" less than two minutes before the close of the auction? [img]graemlins/wonder.gif[/img]

[King Ghidorah]

you should email the bidder and warn them about this

it seems fishy

[Alex]

There was only one bidder.

It seems like they chose to pay the full price for the item even though no one else was bidding against them. [img]eek.gif[/img]

[Greg Crawford]

Could someone have it the wrong icon (button) by mistake?