I am saying that EVERY auction has results which never happened. They put up the results within days of the end of the auction and then those results stay there whether or not the buyer ever pays, or whether or not the item is returned. In my database, I wait 30 to 59 days to post the results, and then ONLY those that were paid for 100% in cash are poster.
For that matter, how can any auction that gives "buyers" 6 months or a year to pay even remotely consider posting "results" until that much time goes by?
And Rich, forget about "looks like it could be the same item" up two or three times. The defects match exactly, And as to your other doubts, anecdotal evidence CAN be extremely compelling. As I posted on January 9th:
"One of my longtime buyers called me and told me the following story:
"I have been a buyer in major poster auctions for over 20 years. I have bought some in your online auctions, but not that much, because I am not that comfortable with computers. I have been learning how to do so, and have been bidding with you, and I recently noticed that one of your competitiors has online auctions as well, and I looked at them.
I found 11 items to bid on, and I gave my secretary 11 bids to place on those items for me. A couple were between the estimates, but most were over the estimates, and I had bid odd amounts (like $235, etc).
A few days later I got notification that I had won all 11 items, and I told my secretary to pay for them, and she asked me why EVERY item was EXACTLY the price I bid! I looked at the list, and just as she had said, I was the high bidder on every item at EXACTLY my limit.
Now I could see that happening on a few of the items, or even five or six, BUT ALL ELEVEN? I mean, that is astronomical that it could be caused by chance. It would be like picking the winners of 11 straight horse races! It makes me very sad and angry, but it is easy to figure out what happened."
I told him that many other people had told me very similar stories over the years, and that the best way to deal with this is to either not bid in such auctions, or, if they have items you would like to have at some price, then go ahead and bid, but assume that they will "make" you pay your maximum, so only a bid a price you will be happy to pay.
Of course, it is very sad that they have to have this charade of an auction, and that there are surely many, many, people who don't "catch on" for years, if ever, but until the government ever steps in and regulates this completely unregulated industry, it is likely to not change one bit.
Incidentally, I have heard auction owners defend their actions by saying that no one is really hurt by this, because after all, the buyers are getting to buy items for the price they themselves set as the price they were willing to pay, but I don't buy this for one second, because there is gross misrepresentation in "how the game is played" (even if the auctions put in the fine print that they can bid on their own items, that consignors can bid on their own items, that reserves can be over the estimates, etc).
A couple of weeks later, that same longtime buyer called me back and said that once he got over being so mad, he took my advice and simply bid prices he was willing to pay. He said he had just placed three bids, and he bid three VERY odd numbers (like $171.50), and in all three cases, he "won" the items for EXACTLY his limit! But at least now he knows "how the game is played", so he is not as mad, although he said he will likely bid less and less high in the future in those auctions (but he mentioned how he had bid $400 in an eMoviePoster.com auction recently and won the item for $160!)."
Now Rich, you may find the above does not prove anything, and on that we will just have to agree to disagree!
