Listia Inc listia.com The aution process is a propping scam as you bid on a item the system tells you even though you bid higher on a item that you did not outbid the lower bid then refers you to rules that state a person , Internet

I have been a member of LISTIA for a few months.And although I sympathize with your problem,I have not had the same experience.I have won a few Auctions and lost a few Auctions.I have also had a problem with one of the winners of one of my Auctions.Most bidders wait until the very last 5minutes to bid on items that are popular,such as iPhones,xBox360's ect.So,it may seem that your being scammed when in reality it just might be one of the numerous people who have learned how to "beat"the bidding process.I have looked at quite a few profiles,and some of these people have won 100"s of Auctions.I'm not sure yet if I will continue with LISTIA,actually Ebay is better even if it's money your bidding and not points.I am going to reserve judgement on LISTIA until such time that I am scammed or feel that it is a scam.

The way Listia or for that matter Ebay or any number of other internet auctions works is:

 An "economically rational" bidder will bid the maximum amount they are willing to pay on their first bid, and never raise their bid. Say, for the sake of example, they bid 20 credits. 

The auction is set for a minimum bid of 1 credit. And if no one else bids. This first bidder's bid starts the auction at 1 credit and the auction will remain at 1 credit until someone else raises the bid. 

So, a second bidder come along (this bidder represents you in this situation) and you see the bid is currently at 1 credit. So, you bid 5 credits hoping to be the highest bidder. However, since the first bidder's highest bid is 20 credits, you will be automatically outbid and the bid will then raise to 5 credits. 

This will continue until you or someone else bids more than the first bidder's bid of 20 credits. 

When that occurs. (Say you bid 21 credits) You will become the highest bidder. 

This is the same system that they use on Ebay. It is not a "bid propping scam"

Listia.inc is a ripoff.They suspended my account when someone hacked my account .They send e-mails against this person but yet they let him hack peoples accounts.Beware of Listia they are Ripoffs.

Online auctions are easy money making businesses whether it's Ebay, Listia, and especially other "low cost" or "penny" auctions.  The reason why you are not the highest bidder can be one of many reasons.  The popular reason is that someone is watching the bid and is bidding against you.  If only they would list who is watching and who is bidding, you can have a better idea of who is buying what to better know whether or not it is a legitimate auction or not. (Stat padding, boosting, etc...especially when accounts are a dime a million...there are people who will have high popular stats from many new accounts...thus...raising a red flag to the avid hunter...).  However, the real underlying event is that someTHING else is monitoring or watching the auction and then bidding the highest bid +1 as soon as a new bid is entered, especially until a "reserve" is met.  It's an open door since the bids start 0-100 and people can easily "create" a new account with a new email and start off at 500+ points times the thousands of different accounts they have that have bought from each other.  It is easy to make a program so that anytime there is a new bid, the program will automatically submit the bid and even easier to find and download one.  You can not outperform a computer since it can read and process data a lot faster especially on the internet.

I personally waited a few seconds, and then refreshed, and then waited, and refreshed and then bid and was right away upon refreshing my bid was already outbid.  Whether there is an actual person or a program, commonly referred to as BOT or BOTTING, it is harder to tell, hence some sites that require sign up also require authentication or double checking by having you type letters and numbers on images that the average person's BOT wouldn't be able to read/see/authenticate that security measure.  Just be careful because I always wait and bid repeatedly to test the waters of a particular bid.

In all honesty, always be weary since online auctions such as this place are notoriously popular since it's not heavily regulated on the bids that can be made.  People will always look for the best deals and if simple coding can get them what they are after, they will most definitely do so.  But whether it's the company or not, it's only speculation, and thus not relevant.  Sites like Ebay, however, are your best bet since they deal with REAL money.  In the end, the website shows promise as a good idea, but with it being not well regulated and secure yet, especially with the open doors/loopholes that the website presents, I would use at caution.  A simple added security text box to deter bots, of which an extension to the bid is automatically set just incase there is a typo, but most of the time they're super easy to read anyways, would help people have the highest bid...because i'm sure that since there were only 3 other people watching the bid I was at...they wouldn't be sitting around and waiting for the next bid for the next 7 days that the auction is going on....... i'm just saying...

Hi, the person who made the negative report did not do his/her research, in my opinion. I have recently joined Listia and have had nothing but postive experiences.

When you make a bid, you can enter the highest bid you are willing to make, and Listia will up the current bid to the next level for you. If someone else has bid higher than that, the bid automatically goes up.

Therefore, you do not have to be there for the bids to go up, and you can be outbid immediately if someone else has already left a higher limit on their bids!! Simple. Not shady.

Thanks for providing this place to complain and to correct things! I have been ripped off by an auction site and used similar sites to warn others. It's a good thing to be able to publish your opinions on sites in a public forum!

I believe the person making this report is not savvy to the auction process of many auction sites like Listia.

I have been a seller and a buyer from this site for around two years and tho some of the users may perpetrate individual scams on their own listings, the site itself is not a scam.

I believe the person who tried bidding and kept being outbid was in fact losing because of "proxy bidding" .  When someone bids on an item they can bid any amount they want, but the lowest amount needed to win is what willl show to other bidders.  When someone bids against them, the difference of the bid shown and what they actually bid is automatically used to keep them in the bidding process until someone comes along and bids higher than their first/original full bid. This proxy bidding is done by the computer and the person with the highest bid does not need to be online.

Example:   I find an item I want.  Its high bid is 50. I bid 500.  My bid will show to be 51.  If someone else comes along and bids 75, my bid will bump up to 76.  People can keep bidding against me, even if I am not online until someone comes in and bids OVER 500.  They will then be the high bidder.  I have often seen people bid over and over in small increments and never outbid the original high bid.

I call the small bids 'nibbling'.  People do this because they do not understand the process of proxy bidding.

I understand what your response to this report is saying, because I have experienced the "max" bid issue myself. However, what the original consumer report illustrates is something different, which I have also experienced.

I was bidding on an auction and every time I did so, the refreshed page immediately said something like, "Your bid was submitted, however you were outbid." Every time I placed a bid, this happened. So I kept bidding up and up. It kept saying I was outbid. Then it turns out I won the auction. However, when you view the bid history, you can see I placed several bids in succession (thinking that I was being outbid) and yet there are no bids in between mine. When I bid 120, I was immediately told I was outbid by 1, so then I placed a bid of 122, on and on. No one was outbidding me at all, though.

The experience I've explained here is what the original report is trying to cover. This is different from the max bid. I understand how auctions work, and you're not supposed to be taken advantage of like this. Also, the original report doesn't seem to have been written clearly--I'm just trying to clear up the situation as to what exactly occurred.  

The listia system is designed for bidding.

I can enter a bid of 40000000 points for an item that is only at 25 points right now.  When you bid you are going against whatever I have bid.

Of course you still didn't win because more than likely you were one of the low bottom feed bidders trying to outbid me by 10 points or 30 points.

So Yes, I still win.  And the system is designed so I don't lose my entire bid unless it's neccessary to win the item. 
So that I don't go broke in points.

Learn how things work before you file rip off reports.  For real.

By virtue of your own image you're question was answered correctly.

Koiphish (or whomever it was) had entered a bid of 150 points so when you bid the 125 you were then outbid.
At 151 you outbid them and won the auction.

It is quite possible and frequent in Listia for users to watch by ending soonest and there can be 2, 3, 6 of you all bidding in the last 60 seconds.

 How is Listia reponsible for someone hacking into your account?

You are responsible for your account.You have no basis to say Listia is the problem.

From what you state,you know who the hacker is,therefore you should be able to fix the problem.

If Listia deleted your account,there more than likely,was a good reason.

You cannot say Listia is a scam because you have not stated what Listia has done to be labelled a scam.You had trouble with a Hacker,not Listia.

OP, what you are describing is proxy bidding. It is used on eBay and other auction sites. There is nothing "scammy", sinister or even mysterious about it. Read more on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_bid

I have been using listia for a few months, and bidding seemed quite strange to me at first too. now that i have completed a dozen of them i believe i have some insight. when you fist bid on an item your bid becomes the highest bid(if your the first one) only you can see what you bid if its the highest. so if someone bids higher you cant see what they bid, you kind of have to guess how high they were willing to go. so if you can go higher than them, the high bid will change to what they bid before you outbid them. a little confusing but defintily not a rip off. i love this site and would recommend it to anyone.

I was using Listia for about a month but they are a rip off big time....I won several items and some i had to pay for shipping.. I never got ANY of my items, paypal wont reimburse you for these shipping charges because listia is not a paypal verified website, i fought with them  for about a week. Listia also will not refund money for shipping charges. I have found alot of these sellers "BOOST" their auctions meaning they get people they know to bid on their auctions just to increase their credits. I dont know who these people are that are saying they never had a problem, maybe they are part of the "BOOSTING" this website is a joke and should be taken down, sellers charge for shipping you never get your item and when i added it all up that i paid for shipping im out 36.00 its not alot of money but basically i just gave them 36.00 for nothing!!

LISTIA.COM IS FRAUD, DO NOT USE THIS WEBSITE, ALSO REPORTED TO THE FBI, AND THE GOVERNMENT INTERNET FRAUD DIVISION....THEY ARE INVESTIGATING

Lets say the bid is 50 credits. I then place a bid for 100 credits. The price I would buy it for is 51 credits. But, if you would place a bid for 75 credits, I would still have a higher bid, no? I would now have the max bid with 76 credits. Now, if you bid 105 credits, You would have the max bid. Simple?

That was not a scam, just a slight misunderstanding. Tell me if I am wrong!