Do Flippa Competitors Create Fake Accounts to Feign Winning Bids?

[halifax123]

Hey guys,

Maybe this goes without saying; realizing some of the garbage that takes place on Flippa...

(When I say "Flippa competitors" I mean other sellers on Flippa, as opposed
to some other auction site)

Do some competitors change proxies, logon on to flippa, obtain a winning bid for your site,
then refuse to pay?- for the sole purpose and intent of discouraging newcomers, or existing
competitors within their niche, whom they see as competition?

I assume this occurs - but really don't know the in's and out's of flippa well enough to say it occurs definitively...

Are my concerns ill gotten? Maybe I'm up a tree?

But it just seems well within the scope of what is likely to occur
especially when it comes to the "one-ups-menship" of competition. I know
that when I was on CL, it would occur without a doubt. Granted this isn't CL,
but tactics are tactics. I have to believe that I am naive, if I do not believe that it occurs.

And if so - is there a way to distinguish this type of bidder from a legit one?

thanks, your feedback would be of interest...

Hali~

 

[halifax123]

common guys! chime in!

I don't have the plague!

your belief or understanding...

meathead - I'm sure you must know?

Hali~

 

[poweronics]

Anything is possible in the IM world and flipping business is not crystal clear. It may be happening around and I do appreciate that your sense is working here. Thanks for pointing this out.

 

[kvmcable]

Yes competitors pull this shit. The thing is this; you don't have to accept their bid. Usually they're pretty obvious also. You'll have 3-5 bidders pumping the bid up $5 at a time and along comes competitor and bumps it $300. No history, no feedback and registered in the last 7 days. Toss those bids out and let it run. If he comes back and bumps it $5 then refuse his bid.

But to answer your question - absolutely dirtbags on flippa try this shit. Like some of the threads on bhw; people get more concerned with knocking down your business rather than building their own. Kick them to the curb and keep going.

 

[meathead1234]

Non-paying bidders happen all the time, especially if you don't speak to them beforehand.

If they have a new account, I'll always speak to them before accepting a bid (assuming it's above reserve).

I doubt it's competitors, though. There are tons of sellers on Flippa so you're not really competing with one person, you're competing with loads. It would be impractical to go around winning every auction just for the sake of it.

Bear in mind, you'll also get your account suspended if you don't pay. Opening a new account, verifying it and bidding on a few auctions seems pretty pointless.

I'm sure it's been done a few times, but I highly doubt the main reason for non-paying bidders is just competitors bidding on your auctions.

 

[ripmaniamania]

I had this in mind last time I was on Flippa searching for sites, will try to build my empire of sites and not sell them there...its a bit creepy that shit happens for alot of cash.

 

[missil3]

thats why I make it a point not to accept bids from accounts that are less than 3 months old.

 

[dexterfly]

that shit happened to me at Flippa.
Someone purchased and didn't pay for it.
I wasted over $100 with the listing's fees. When I complained they said they would banned the user and that's it.

They suck!

 

[meathead1234]

that shit happened to me at Flippa.
Someone purchased and didn't pay for it.
I wasted over $100 with the listing's fees. When I complained they said they would banned the user and that's it.

They suck!

If the buyer doesn't pay, Flippa will refund your listing fee as credits so you can list again...

 

[meathead1234]

that shit happened to me at Flippa.
Someone purchased and didn't pay for it.
I wasted over $100 with the listing's fees. When I complained they said they would banned the user and that's it.

They suck!

If the buyer doesn't pay, Flippa will refund your listing fee as credits so you can list again...

 

[milesphoenix]

I think some of them do. Especially if they want people to bid 'higher'. :/

 

[ula36]

You should file a dispute and tell them that the buyer didn't pay.

Like Meathead said, they'll refund you the money and you can relist the website.

But you must file a dispute, not just send an email to support. You'll find the dispute button in "sale completion area" above the listing.

 

[fluffypony]

I suppose it could happen - but you are also in a position to contact the 2nd highest bidder in that case, surely?

 

[NatashaNixon]

There are a lot of shady bidders on there, just reject a bid if the account doesn't add up.

 

[rendesr]

Will be interesting to see if the buyers requiring a CC to bid above $200 will make a difference to this.