DomainLore Auction IU.co.uk - On domainlore £50 start no reserve.

[rob]

ps. perhaps the mod (s ) could merge in http://www.acorndomains.co.uk/general-board/92010-iu-co-uk-auction-shill-bidding.html#post345037 rather than just close, as then makes things read right rather than mess timelines.

 

[Aaron Clifford]

Aaron, to answer you - they felt pressured to act to help me and thats my fault. They had the best intentions but have cost me a lot more than they would have 'saved' me.

I have asked admin to ban / remove me from the forum in whatever way he see's fit.

If this is the case then fair enough, the person needs to be a man and admit it was them. Unless you pressured them into doing it you dont appear to have done much wrong.

 

[scwebsites]

I think Denys uses mobile phones to verify accounts, I don't know if he still does as I haven't registered an account recently

Yes they do, I signed up a few days ago.

 

[GreyWing]

Makes you wonder what is going on at sedo, I don't think they watch their system like Denys does.

 

[dotNetFreak]

Makes you wonder what is going on at sedo, I don't think they watch their system like Denys does.

Don't they get a % of the final price...?

 

[newguy]

I think Denys uses mobile phones to verify accounts, I don't know if he still does as I haven't registered an account recently

Yeah I think you might be right there. That's certainly better than nothing of course, but it's not too hard to buy a simcard. If accounts were linked to real addresses, it would cut out most of he nonsense I think. I'd have no trouble confirming an address. I mean, it's linked to the domains people try sell on domainlore anyway, so it's no big deal. I guess Deny might be worried that it would dissuade people from signing up though.

 

[Ashton]

To me there is a difference between having a chat with a mate about bikes or whatever and auctions and some dunce registering to DL and bumping a bid thinking they are 'helping', to someone using same laptop or the like, using privatetunnel etc and specifically setting out to defraud and avoid being caught.

I could be reading it wrong but your post does hint more at the idiot-trying-to-help rather than the latter more calculated approach, but using privatetunnel is quite precise.

Can you give clarity? No reason to, just me being nosey and wondering

I am paraphrasing here but:

They thought I had a reserve on it and tried to bid that amount because on ebay if an item doesnt meet reserve it doesnt sell, even if a bidders highest bid was above reserve...

As for the vpn, they read the post on the dl blog about shill bidding, googled vpn and installed the first free one they came across. Its a little bit stupid to read a post about how vpns didnt work and then use one...

Looking at their laptop its called 'openvpn' and seems pretty easy to use.

@aaron, they made a stupid mistake and have apologised to me, I can't let them be named and shamed in my place. By pressuring them into it, I mean I was unhappy about the loss of my motorbike and a couple of other things, they wanted to cheer me up and went the wrong way around it. I have been hit financially before and I always get back up, I would never ever want someone to try and help me in that way.

I know there are those of you who will doubt that this person really exists, I won't name them and wont get them to post. Just blame me, I accept it and apologise for it.

 

[dotNetFreak]

I personally think from what I've seen and heard that DL is well monitored and has very few issues.

By making any issues public, Denys is kind of creating a stick for his own back, because if he kept quiet, none of us would be discussing making it more secure as we would just presume it was. The fact that he does tell us some of what goes on leads us to believe that he needs our input into making it more secure, but I'm sure he doesn't

 

[GreyWing]

Or maybe they don't exist.

Unfortunately I would have to agree

 

[GreyWing]

By making any issues public, Denys is kind of creating a stick for his own back, because if he kept quiet, none of us would be discussing making it more secure as we would just presume it was. The fact that he does tell us some of what goes on leads us to believe that he needs our input into making it more secure, but I'm sure he doesn't

Or those considering shill bidding will know that Denys is watching. I think Denys is aiming the message at shill bidders not potential bidders.

 

[Ashton]

@sean, good point - I will stop posting now. Denys has changed the notice, grant seems to have partly accepted by apology (whilst still understandably unhappy)

 

[dotNetFreak]

They thought I had a reserve on it and tried to bid that amount because on ebay if an item doesnt meet reserve it doesnt sell, even if a bidders highest bid was above reserve...

Completely irrelevant... but...

That's where they're going wrong then, because if one bidder bids equal or higher than the reserve then it will go to the reserve price and then be sold

If your maximum bid is the first to meet or exceed the reserve price, the effective bid displayed will automatically be raised to the reserve price.

Or those considering shill bidding will know that Denys is watching. I think Denys is aiming the message at shill bidders not potential bidders.

Oh for sure and hopefully it will sink in.

 

[Alien]

A very regrettable affair for all involved and commendably, Ashton appears to have been transparent and open with his explanation and must be applauded for that (he could have just upped sticks and ran, he didn't).

Although personally I feel it's admirable you are protecting your friend Ash, but do they realise the true extent of what they've done here to you? If it was me and if I was an honourable friend, I'd be registering to this forum immediately to give my explanation personally and take 100% of the blame.

Anyway, onwards and upwards.

 

[foz]

Ironically this could have all been avoided if put on Acorn for an asking price.

I can't see the appeal of auction sites (in the re-seller community), when the action can take place right here.

 

[bensd]

Ironically this could have all been avoided if put on Acorn for an asking price.

I can't see the appeal of auction sites (in the re-seller community), when the action can take place right here.

It was originially. And iirc Grant was going to buy it for £3k but then it was put up for auction - how ironic!

 

[foz]

It was originially. And iirc Grant was going to buy it for £3k but then it was put up for auction - how ironic!

Indeed, why not the reserve then. Live and learn I guess.

 

[GreyWing]

I can't see the appeal of auction sites (in the re-seller community), when the action can take place right here.

Probably the biggest appeal is that you won't usually undervalue a name. Some of the names that went for me on DL recently I would have let go on here for 30% of that price. Plus you normally get cash fast with little hassle or approaching end users / resellers and tyre kicking.

Bad valuations on my part, perhaps! but others may attach more value to them because it is their niche. All it needs is two of those and your domain will go higher.

Of course you can always set a reserve, so if used right it can produce more returns. But can backfire I suppose too and a few names have been burnt on there.

Would I put a premium name on it? probably not. Would I put a low / mid xxx on it? yep most of the time.

 

[aZooZa]

I'm on a VPN in China right now. I have to use it to even get to Acorn, let alone DL. so would that obviate my bidding on DL? As Invincible said previously, and I paraphrase, VPNs and proxies are easy to detect. This is a very difficult subject. The reality of it is that you only need a few mates (Invincible again IIRC) to set up accounts. You can never stop shills. Never.

 

[diablo]

Shill bidding is fraud.

It is punishable by law under the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008 and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.

The way to stop shill bidding is to make it clear that anyone caught doing it on DL will not only be banned, but face prosecution too.

 

[Aaron Clifford]

I have a paid VPN account which I use when I am abroad, sometimes, for things like iPlayer. I sometimes VPN into my own systems, allowing me to route traffic from where ever I am as if it's coming from the UK. In a scenario where bidders were locked to specific static IP addresses, they'd specified to DL already, you'd either have to login to your specified system (likely to be a home connection) and bid via that (using VPN or remote access technology) or your paid VPN service would have to offer you a dedicated static IP address that was yours and yours alone. Given that static IP address would belong to a known VPN company, rather than a physical ISP, perhaps it would have to be manually approved by DL based on their knowledge of you personally.

You're right about never being able to stop every shill. Bringing in suggestions such as mine would prevent the casual shiller and might make all but the most determined consider engaging in the practice.

What about if people want to bid via their mobile phone, tablet or laptop out of the office/home?