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MG TD TF 1500 - Suspicious eBay bidding

Boy, if ever bidding was suspicious, this is it:

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=201250344168&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2565

Surprisingly, for yellow, it looks like a decent car - lots wrong, but it just looks well put-together. I don't like the dash or black vinyl, but all in all, respectable. I could see owning it, but not for anything NEAR the $16k it is at right now (with 90 bids)...

Tom Lange
MGT Repair
t lange

Tom, did you notice the floorboard bolts on the rear they did not use the capture nuts and drilled new holes for bolts with nuts. Nothing major, but makes you wonder what else has been altered? The yellow doesn't cut it either. PJ
Paul S Jennings

I think you are correct about suspicious bidding!! Or may be their automatic bidding scheme went awry,, the bids are just seconds apart,,and 3***b bids are 200, and d***b is 100,,

Steve
Steve Wincze

The bidding is a bit strange, but probably not dishonest, I think. Apparently the auction was started at a very low number, and some optimistic soul thought that meant he could get the car for $350. I don't understand why people enter a string of unrealistic bids, but they do. This is just an extreme case.

All in all, it's a nice car. I also don't like the colors, but I suspect someone will. If it were mine, though, I'd definitely replace the brake lines, both hard and soft.
S Maas

The fact that the bids are just a few seconds apart would indicate an automatic bidding scheme. I don't think a real person could be that quick!!!
Steve Wincze

The way some of the automatic bidding systems work is to test the waters. They will bid fairly early and work up to a percent of the max the bidder wants to bid. Then they will let the dust settle and wait until near the end and start the process again. Then at the last few seconds put the final bid in.

The only thing these bidding systems bid against are the manual bidders that really don't know how much they want to spend. They keep coming back later convinced they should pay more. One should do their research, place a bid and let the chips fall where they may. Even in real bidding situations it works like that.

But of course sometimes bidders will play with other bidders once they know they are desperate. So they have no intention of buying an object but also know the other party must have it at any cost. So they just play with them and their money, bidding higher but not winning. :-)
Christopher Couper

Explain one more thing,,,Looking at the bid times of two of the most recient bidders,, there are so many, and they are only 2 to 5 seconds apart,, how can they do that so fast??? And it alwqys either 200 or 100 dollars..
SPW
Steve Wincze

eBay has a relatively new system of bidding. When the bid is entered and confirmed either you will be the high bidder or are outbid. If the latter is the case then three icons instantly come up with choices for a new bid. Clicking on one of these icons produces a new bid. If this one is still not high enough the icons appear again with three new bid options and so on.
I just tried it on an item I am interested in and it takes only a couple of seconds between these semi-automatic bids.
Cheers, Hugh
H.D. Pite

I don't make a lot of purchases on ebay. I have used the automatic bidding feature a few times with good success. I enjoy trying to learn the techniques used by bidders.

Unless there is some improper insider bidding going on, looks like at least two bidders are very interested in buying this car. With four days left in the auction, there may be others in the wings. I'm sure some are testing the waters for the final bidding frenzy

The increments of bid levels in ebay automatic bidding is a rounded percentage of the highest bid. Don't know how the increment is determined by other autobid programs. So I don't know why some autobids were $100 higher and some were $200 higer. The autobids take place very fast. The human bidder is not involved.

As in all auctions, a seller with nerve can run the bids up using another bidder name.

This link shows all bids including automatic bids:
http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=201250344168&showauto=true

Here is my blow-by-blow description of the bidding ...

The key dates of bids were
> Dec 27, 7:08
> Dec 27, 12:41
> Dec 27, 12:55
> Dec 27, 16:57
> Dec 28, 19:36

Dec 27, 7:08
n***n made an opening automatic bid of $8,199 with a limit of $11,999.99 on Dec 27 at 7:08. His autobid kept outbidding other autobidders until his limit was reached.

Dec 27, 12:41
3***b placed and automatic bid on Dec 27 at 12:41 with a maximum limit of about $12,200. He was outbid by n***n the limit of $11,999.99 was reached by n***n, then the autobid by 3***n took over until the bid reached the max of $12,200 that 3***n had set.

Dec 27, 12:55
n***n placed another bid (not automatic) for $12,300 a few minutes later on Dec 27 at 12:55.

Dec 27, 16:57
d***b joined the bidding with an automatic bid on Dec 27 at 16:57 with a limit of $16,000 or more. This outbid the $12,300 bid by n***n and kept automatically outbidding all other bidders. d***b is the current high bidder at $16,000.

Dec 27, 19:36
3***b placed a new automatic bid on Dec 28 at 19:36 with a limit of about $15,900 when the top bid was $12,400 by d***b. The autobid of d***b immediately out bid 3***b and kept out bidding him until the limit set by 3***b was surpassed.

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

IMHO: I would be surprised if someone went to all of the trouble to "build up" an account to do shell bidding on this one. More likely a "shell bidder" would only have a few and/or 0 purchases...not 300+.

Although I have not purchased any large ticket items on feebay for some time ...I would leery of bidding against another with no/low buying statistics.

I don't particularly care for the "Anonymous bidder" approach they have taken on feebay now. I have followed a few auctions from dealers in my area but have entered no bids because of multiple bids from different users having no "history". One in particular on a truck I was interested in but felt there was something very suspect about the bidding on it.

David Sheward 55 TF1500 # 7427

Couldn't add it to last post ....Is that a power antenna on the right rear fender? Strange placement for it!

David Sheward 55 TF1500 # 7427

they call the color butternut but it seems more yellow to me. Nice car overall, not sure about the price though. 15 maybe,,,
Tom Maine

Seems to be a popular color in some circles..........

David Sheward 55 TF1500 # 7427

Since my car looks similar to the interior of this one (black with a similar wood dash - that is the way I got it in 1974), I am at least pleased to see it get this price.

Don't have my books with me right now (still packed away), but this car has flat speedo and tack. A 52 would not have the flat speedo, but we know that TD's may be registered a year later in the US due to when they came into the US.


Would TD 10574 have had flat speedo and tack? It has a later type generator.
Bruce Cunha

The change from chronometric to magnetic instruments came at TD10751 (according to NEMGTR). That was about October 5, 1951. Easily late enough for registration as a 1952. Bud
Bud Krueger

Auction ended on Jan. 2 with the bidding at $ 17,900 and reserve not met. Back on and currently the bidding is at about $ 2,500.

The exterior cosmetics are very nice despite the debatable choice of color. Interior shows some patina. The underside shows what amounts to a good driver quality car.

The previous high bid is probably the upper limit of what this one is worth.

BobbyG
Bobby Galvez

This thread was discussed between 29/12/2014 and 05/01/2015

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