News Bot Wars: Enthusiasts Fight eBay Scalper Listings with False, Automated Bids

[Admin]

A recent post from Reddit’s r/AMD forum proposes a new strategy for using bots to make scalping obsolete.

Bot Wars: Enthusiasts Fight eBay Scalper Listings with False, Automated Bids : Read more

 

[Math Geek]

well this looks like a good way to spend some of that free time so many people find themselves trying to use up.

blowing up those sales won't stop them of course but at least it might drive them to sites with less traffic where they are less likely to be successful.

and thanks for linking to the PSA itself. makes it easier folks that are no inclined to get started themselves

 

[caseym54]

The "winning bidders" should be sure to give negative feedback about products not being delivered.

 

[Math Geek]

The "winning bidders" should be sure to give negative feedback about products not being delivered.

LMAO

 

[husker]

Reminds me of the story of a farmer who put a sign in his watermelon patch to discourage thieves: "Warning: one of these watermelons is poisoned!" Next day farmer looks at the sign and to his chagrin, thieves had crossed out the word "one" and written in "two". Now nobody gets one.

 

[spongiemaster]

The "winning bidders" should be sure to give negative feedback about products not being delivered.

Wouldn't they have to pay the absurd bid they made before that was possible? Why would the scalper not ship at that point?

 

[ThatMouse]

Ebay is full of scammers anyway. I'm not sure if I'd trust buying anything. Someone is selling a graphics card STOCK PHOTO for $900+
Nvidia Geforce 3080 Founders Edition stock photo

You will be receiving a digital photo of the Nvidia Geforce 3080 and nothing else.
No refunds.
Picture will be sent via email
This auction is to combat bot purchases!
Video card is not included!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nvidia-Gef...028792?hash=item217f61ae38:g:PH0AAOSwcJhfyQha

 

[x_elusiv_x]

A recent post from Reddit’s r/AMD forum proposes a new strategy for using bots to make scalping obsolete.

Bot Wars: Enthusiasts Fight eBay Scalper Listings with False, Automated Bids : Read more

Great article. Maybe next time you could actually define what your talking about before assuming that every reader here knows what you mean by scalping.

 

[sstanic]

Nice article 👍

 

[escksu]

Wouldn't they have to pay the absurd bid they made before that was possible? Why would the scalper not ship at that point?

From what I know. you can leave feedback as soon as auction is over.

 

[Awev]

More years ago than I care to remember I took a class on lithographic offset printing. I learned why they call it laundering money - an experiment to try, throw some freshly printed 25% cotton paper into a dryer with a roll of quarters. My instructor wanted to make sure we knew what to look for, so we could notify the authorities if we saw anything that looked like that. Don't want your co-workers or fellow students passing counterfeit money. Just another public service announcement helping educate the public so they know what they are looking at, and can report it to the authorities properly.

 

[Math Geek]

Great article. Maybe next time you could actually define what your talking about before assuming that every reader here knows what you mean by scalping.

scalping has the same meaning no matter what product is being resold. not sure what other meaning you think might apply to the word??

 

[escksu]

Hmm, not sure if its a good thing to do. Its just creating problem for ebay instead. These pple also need to know that what they are doing may be illegal.

They also need to know that while scalping is frowned upon, it is not illegal unless it is considered essential items (eg. mask, sanitiser, food, etc.....). I am afraid graphics card thats mainly intended for gaming cannot be considered as essential items.

 

[purple_dragon]

To bad for ebay.

 

[watzupken]

I feel this is like a band aid solution with the intention of irritating scalpers, rather than stopping them. The way to stop them is to stop buying from them. People that buy from them think it is just a 1 time problem, but it is not. The next time new hardware gets released, they will have to pay tax to scalpers again. Its just plain foolishness.

 

[nofanneeded]

Well , Scalpers can defeat all this by putting a fixed price without any bids .. I think they will do it soon.

 

[Wolfshadw]

scalping has the same meaning no matter what product is being resold. not sure what other meaning you think might apply to the word??

Gotta remember that this is a global site. Not everyone on the planet is familiar with Western Colloquialisms.

-Wolf sends

 

[escksu]

I feel this is like a band aid solution with the intention of irritating scalpers, rather than stopping them. The way to stop them is to stop buying from them. People that buy from them think it is just a 1 time problem, but it is not. The next time new hardware gets released, they will have to pay tax to scalpers again. Its just plain foolishness.

Yes, this is the only way. Boycott them entirely.

 

[DookieDraws]

I had high hopes to do a new build with all the great Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales that were going on. I seen great deals on nearly every component I wanted for my build, but sadly, the AMD CPU I wanted was out of stock, and still is! Then, was planning on getting a 3060Ti when it was available, but they were gobbled up, too! All the scalping screwed my plans up, and I missed out on some great deals on other components. Yeah, I could've bought all the other components and waited for the CPU and GPU to become available, but that wait could be several months, or longer! And what if one of those components were to be faulty, and I am out of my return period? That's why I prefer to get everything at once.

 

[norcalsc]

this is genius, I mean criminal..... and I swear I won't accidentally share it with every single person I know or have ever known. these CYBER PIRATES are really making it hard to not want to give them a taste of their own medicine. It's a war out there.... pick a side

 

[MorganPike]

Reminds me of the story of a farmer who put a sign in his watermelon patch to discourage thieves: "Warning: one of these watermelons is poisoned!" Next day farmer looks at the sign and to his chagrin, thieves had crossed out the word "one" and written in "two". Now nobody gets one.

People with any common sense are going to wait for the market to stabilize anyway. Then everyone can get one.

So although I wouldn't waste my time doing this, I sure do get a kick out of hearing about others giving scalpers a hard time.

Great article.

 

[MorganPike]

Scalpers have no scruples. Why anyone would buy anything from them is beyond me. If you buy yourself a picture of a box, I guess a fool and his money are soon parted.

 

[MorganPike]

Gotta remember that this is a global site. Not everyone on the planet is familiar with Western Colloquialisms.

-Wolf sends

uhhh, Google, hint, hint, or is that not available everywhere?

 

[MorganPike]

More years ago than I care to remember I took a class on lithographic offset printing. I learned why they call it laundering money - an experiment to try, throw some freshly printed 25% cotton paper into a dryer with a roll of quarters. My instructor wanted to make sure we knew what to look for, so we could notify the authorities if we saw anything that looked like that. Don't want your co-workers or fellow students passing counterfeit money. Just another public service announcement helping educate the public so they know what they are looking at, and can report it to the authorities properly.

I'm pretty sure 'laundering money' is a term used because the money goes in dirty at input and is clean at output. Legally speaking of course.

Correct me if necessary, I'm certainly not an authority on the subject, but what I am certain of is that money laundering and counterfeiting are two entirely different things.

 

[Colif]

Selling hardware online only is a dumb idea and only benefits the middle men who buy things and resell.

Soon sellers will need to slow the bots down to same speed as normal buyers, just like some stock markets have now.

Sony only selling PS5 online for instance was asking for trouble.