Not allowing Anonymous bids on auctions

[IdenticalGame]

I have seen a couple Auctions recently where the OP announced there was an anonymous bid placed(usually well above the price of the last bid). It all just seems a little fishy to me that someone would not want to be named. For all I know is that the OP could of just got a friend to message him in PMs. It would be nice if there was some sort of rule in place that bids are to be posted in the original thread, which would minimize the 'fake bids' just a bit more.

 

[Justis]

What's the harm in a fake bid exactly?

If nobody wants the account for higher and offers higher, then it's only the owner's loss if he ends up selling it to a fake bidder, aka nobody.
If someone does, then what does it matter? People pay what something is worth to them, if they paid more than what the fake bidder offered, then the account was worth more to them than that and their adjusted offer reflects that.
Logically, it seems no different than if the author simply placed the initial bid higher.

 

[IdenticalGame]

What's the harm in a fake bid exactly?

If nobody wants the account for higher and offers higher, then it's only the owner's loss if he ends up selling it to a fake bidder, aka nobody.
If someone does, then what does it matter? People pay what something is worth to them, if they paid more than what the fake bidder offered, then the account was worth more to them than that and their adjusted offer reflects that.
Logically, it seems no different than if the author simply placed the initial bid higher.

Noted. Just seems a bit unfair is all. Whats the point in anonymity on a bid even??

 

[Linny]

Noted. Just seems a bit unfair is all. Whats the point in anonymity on a bid even??

so no one knows who you are?

 

[Zang269]

What's the harm in a fake bid exactly?

If nobody wants the account for higher and offers higher, then it's only the owner's loss if he ends up selling it to a fake bidder, aka nobody.
If someone does, then what does it matter? People pay what something is worth to them, if they paid more than what the fake bidder offered, then the account was worth more to them than that and their adjusted offer reflects that.
Logically, it seems no different than if the author simply placed the initial bid higher.

The harm in a fake bid is that it's essentially stealing from people. If you start an auction with an initial bid and someone is going to win, but then you place a fake bid on it trying to get them to continue to bid higher you are stealing money from that person. They would have won your auction that you placed with a set end date for a price that you just didn't like.

 

[Justis]

Couldn't the same be applied to fake giveaways? No one is losing anything, but a few seconds or minutes of their time by replying to a comment or changing their signature so they have a chance to win. How is there harm in doing fake giveaways?Doing fake giveaways is not allowed, but how is fake bidding allowed, when people are bidding REAL money or bidding to do a trade for an item or items they got with real money?

Nobody is forced to sell their product. It's yours. If you don't feel comfortable selling to a user for whatever reason, you're not required to even in a bidding thread.
Which makes its comparison to a giveaway black and white.
The moment you start a giveaway, you've committed to giving away that item/service to whoever meets the requirements of the giveaway once it ends.

A fake bidder or a fake winner would conflict with that giveaway expectation but would mean nothing when it comes to selling your product.

 

[Zyphior]

Nobody is forced to sell their product. It's yours. If you don't feel comfortable selling to a user for whatever reason, you're not required to even in a bidding thread.
Which makes its comparison to a giveaway black and white.
The moment you start a giveaway, you've committed to giving away that item/service to whoever meets the requirements of the giveaway once it ends.

A fake bidder or a fake winner would conflict with that giveaway expectation but would mean nothing when it comes to selling your product.

It is essentially the same as a giveaway in that you are saying that you are going to be selling your product or service to the highest bidder provided it is above the minimum/reserve price. It is, in essence, a contract the same thing applies to a giveaway you are saying that you are going to give away this item/service to a randomly selected user who met your conditions. If someone were to create a fake giveaway winner people certainly would have a problem with that, why shouldn't we apply the same rules to an auction?

As for harm: the fake bid may result in a somewhat inflated price which can not only result in an economic loss for the individual who purchased the product/service but also may drive up the price of said product or service within the community resulting in a loss for not just one individual/group but potentially many individuals/groups.

 

[Ivain]

Nobody is forced to sell their product. It's yours. If you don't feel comfortable selling to a user for whatever reason, you're not required to even in a bidding thread.
Which makes its comparison to a giveaway black and white.
The moment you start a giveaway, you've committed to giving away that item/service to whoever meets the requirements of the giveaway once it ends.

A fake bidder or a fake winner would conflict with that giveaway expectation but would mean nothing when it comes to selling your product.

A fake bidder could be used to drive up the price, which is what I think people are in t his thread for, but as you said, it's more logical to simply set a higher starting bid if you want to raise the price

 

[Zeiyon]

Nobody is forced to sell their product

If a bidding ends, and I don't like the price at which my product is going to be sold at. I don't have to go through with it?

 

[Jerry]

The harm in a fake bid is that it's essentially stealing from people. If you start an auction with an initial bid and someone is going to win, but then you place a fake bid on it trying to get them to continue to bid higher you are stealing money from that person. They would have won your auction that you placed with a set end date for a price that you just didn't like.

People don't sell for the pathetically low bids that people set on their accounts. Even if they have a date the bidding ends by, they usually won't sell for 50% of the asking BIN price.

Anonymous bidders may want to stay anonymous so they aren't asked about the account in the future.

 

[Zang269]

People don't sell for the pathetically low bids that people set on their accounts. Even if they have a date the bidding ends by, they usually won't sell for 50% of the asking BIN price.

Anonymous bidders may want to stay anonymous so they aren't asked about the account in the future.

Then those people need to set a higher starting bid. This is meant to be an online marketplace, if you say that you are going to auction something in real life you have to take whatever the highest bid is, if you put something on ebay you have to take whatever the highest bid is, there is no point for anything to be called an auction if you are not going to treat is as such, instead make it a "Selling x for BIN OBO" this lets people offer on the thing you are selling without you having any need to accept an offer and should be made distinctly different from auctions.

 

[Jerry]

Then those people need to set a higher starting bid. This is meant to be an online marketplace, if you say that you are going to auction something in real life you have to take whatever the highest bid is, if you put something on ebay you have to take whatever the highest bid is, there is no point for anything to be called an auction if you are not going to treat is as such, instead make it a "Selling x for BIN OBO" this lets people offer on the thing you are selling without you having any need to accept an offer and should be made distinctly different from auctions.

It's almost like a reserve, if a price the seller isn't happy with isn't met then they don't sell.

 

[SheepeyDarkness]

The harm in a fake bid is that it's essentially stealing from people. If you start an auction with an initial bid and someone is going to win, but then you place a fake bid on it trying to get them to continue to bid higher you are stealing money from that person. They would have won your auction that you placed with a set end date for a price that you just didn't like.

Or they could only pay what they think the account is worth. If the bid is set higher than what they think it's worth why should they bid again. It's their choice.

 

[Zang269]

Or they could only pay what they think the account is worth. If the bid is set higher than what they think it's worth why should they bid again. It's their choice.

If you want to buy something that you think is worth $1, but you have a chance to buy it for 50 cents and then right as you're walking up to the counter to pay for it they tell you that it's no longer for sale for 50 cents and you still buy it for what you thought it was worth you still lost money for no real reason other than the business not wanting to sell it to you[DOUBLEPOST=1513741736][/DOUBLEPOST]

It's almost like a reserve, if a price the seller isn't happy with isn't met then they don't sell.

If you have a reserve in an auction you have to notify people beforehand that there is a reserve in place, you don't have to tell them what it is, but you have to say that there is one. Reserves are stupid anyways because you should just set your starting bid to what you wouldve had as the reserve price

 

[Jerry]

If you want to buy something that you think is worth $1, but you have a chance to buy it for 50 cents and then right as you're walking up to the counter to pay for it they tell you that it's no longer for sale for 50 cents and you still buy it for what you thought it was worth you still lost money for no real reason other than the business not wanting to sell it to you[DOUBLEPOST=1513741736][/DOUBLEPOST]
If you have a reserve in an auction you have to notify people beforehand that there is a reserve in place, you don't have to tell them what it is, but you have to say that there is one. Reserves are stupid anyways because you should just set your starting bid to what you wouldve had as the reserve price

Problem with starting the bidding at a 'reserve' is people get butthurt because the starting bid is so high. Butthurt even moreso than any sort of argument that might make its way into a suggestion such as this.

 

[Mick]

What's the harm in a fake bid exactly?

If nobody wants the account for higher and offers higher, then it's only the owner's loss if he ends up selling it to a fake bidder, aka nobody.
If someone does, then what does it matter? People pay what something is worth to them, if they paid more than what the fake bidder offered, then the account was worth more to them than that and their adjusted offer reflects that.
Logically, it seems no different than if the author simply placed the initial bid higher.

Well said.

Denied, thanks for the suggestion.