Yet more blatant shill bidding on eBay Italy !!

[Seiko7A38]

There's an old saying: a leopard never changes its spots. It would appear that a certain particularly greedy Italian eBay seller, a proven exponent of the loathsome practice of shill bidding, doesn't change his modus operandi either. To fully understand the context, you'll ideally need to have read and be familiar with a couple of threads that I updated on the old forum, within the last couple of months. I'll endeavour to give a short summary of them here.

Firstly here's a quick recap from page 3 of this thread. In early January, Stuart Lennard, a one-time fanatical Australian Seiko 7Axx collector listed the last remnants of his once impressive collection on eBay, as a single bulk job lot listing with a comparatively low, almost 'giveaway' Buy-it-Now price of $1700 Au. The lot included 6 7A28's and 12 7A38's.

StuartLennard-7AxxCollection-Sold-Jan2021-Posts.png (139.6 KiB) Viewed 10309 times

[Seiko7A38]

Here's just one previous example of the Italian eBay seller 'Giuseppe's blatant use of shill bidding (per the link shown in the above post). That was actually the second 7A38-6000 he sold, which somewhat ironically he'd recently purchased in September 2020, from that other Italian arch-exponent of shill bidding simone00simone. In truth, this example was in no better than average well-worn condition. Here follows Giuseppe's description of it, from his eBay listing. Note his rather foolish admission there, that his primary eBay ID was oysterdelarge728.

7A38-6000-eBay-Nov2020-Shilling-Postsx2.png (161.91 KiB) Viewed 10301 times

As I've already demonstrated (and proven) on the last page of the 7A38-6000 thread, Giuseppe used his primary eBay ID oysterdelarge728 to bid it as high as 650 Euros. The baton was then passed to another fledgling alternative eBay ID (which then only had a feedback rating of 1 - of more anon), which was used to shill it as high as 995 Euros. Someone was foolhardy enough to place a bid of 1000 Euros, but had the common sense not to pay up. So it was re-listed in the first week of December and it started all over again.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303788587075

7A38-6000-(Divers)-Stainless-PandaFace-eBay-Nov2020-Another-(re-seller)-Ended-Sold-1000Euros.png (46.54 KiB) Viewed 10301 times

The link to that ended eBay auction still works at the time of writing. However, if you click on it now, you'll see that it shows the seller as being russell_06 rather than daria_21. Daria is Giuseppe's girlfriend. Presumably this was originally her eBay account, as she is still also using the same re-named account to list some curling wands and handbags, etc..

7A38-6000-(Divers)-Stainless-PandaFace-eBay-Nov2020-Another-(re-seller)-Ended-Sold-1000Euros-russell_06.png (46.7 KiB) Viewed 10298 times

On 3rd January, presumably in a failed attempt to disguise his earlier devious activities and with future plans in mind, 'Giuseppe' changed the eBay user ID daria_21 to russell_06.

eBay-ID-History-russell_06.png (5.83 KiB) Viewed 10288 times

[Seiko7A38]

We already know that 'Giuseppe' had purchased Stuart Lennard's bulk job lot of Seiko 7Axx's, using his primary eBay ID oysterdelarge728. So naturally, I suspected it was extremely unlikely that when he came to re-sell them separately, he'd use the same ID to list them. Instead he chose russell_06. He started listing the first few the weekend before last - all as 7-day auctions with an opening bid price of 1 Euro.

7A38-eBay-Feb2021-Giuseppe-ex-StuartLennard-x5.png (205.89 KiB) Viewed 10223 times

Most of them can be seen in these this photo from Stuart's eBay bulk Job lot listing:

rsz_7a28-7a38-joblot-stuartlennard-rubyginny-ebay-jan2021-2.jpg (209.72 KiB) Viewed 10283 times

It was fairly obvious from his descriptions (comparing them to those in Stuart's listing) that he'd actually done very little with them, other than change a couple of straps.

[Seiko7A38]

The first couple of auctions ended late last night.

The 7A38-728A supposedly sold for 181 Euros after 12 bids.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-Quartz ... 3894786649

7A38-728A-Stainless+Gold-WhiteRomanFace-eBay-Feb2021-(Re-seller-ex-StuartLennard)-Ended-Sold181Euros.png (47.22 KiB) Viewed 10278 times

The 7A28-6040 supposedly sold for 151 Euros after 23 bids.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303894805457

7A28-6040-Black+Gold-LeatherStrap-eBay-Feb2021-(Re-seller-ex-StuartLennard)-Ended-Sold-151-Euros.png (51.98 KiB) Viewed 10278 times

Whereas those selling prices might not seem particularly outlandish, they obviously weren't as high as 'Giuseppe' would have liked them to be. If you check the bidding history of both items, the winning bidder in both cases has a feedback rating of 631, which coincidentally happens to be the same as that of his primary eBay ID oysterdelarge728. Oops !

So when you've managed to greedily out-shill yourself and you're unable to persuade the losing bidder to accept a second chance offer, the only option is to brazen it out and re-list - which he did albeit briefly with the 7A28-6040 earlier this morning.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303903707446

7A28-6040-Black+Gold-LeatherStrap-eBay-March2021-(Re-seller-ex-StuartLennard)-Re-Listed-Ended-Error.png (53.97 KiB) Viewed 10278 times

[Seiko7A38]

It's not as if any more proof of his greed (and frequent use of shill bidding), were needed, but yesterday evening, Italian eBay seller russell_06 (a.k.a. 'Giuseppe') re-listed the 7A38-728A with a 'pie-in-the-sky' Buy-it-Now price of 249 Euros.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-Quartz ... 3904514188

7A38-728A-Stainless+Gold-WhiteRomanFace-eBay-March2021-(Re-seller)-Re-Listing.png (164.95 KiB) Viewed 10249 times

Looking back at the bidding history of the previous ended auction, although it was supposedly bid to 181 Euros (by a succession of shills and won by 'Giuseppe' himself), best I can ascertain, the highest genuine bid was for 100 Euros !!

[Seiko7A38]

Perhaps it was the realization that he'd pushed his luck too far on the previous two auctions, but Giuseppe seems to have temporarily become a bit more circumspect in his use of shill bidding. Three more ended late yesterday evening.

The stainless 7A38-7260, which he'd fitted with a rubber strap, sold for 130 Euros after 32 bids.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-Quartz ... 3895857603

7A38-7260-Stainless-DarkGreyFace-RubberStrap-eBay-Feb2021-(Re-seller)-Ended-Sold-130Euros.png (48.12 KiB) Viewed 10242 times

Checking the eBay bidding history reveals that Giuseppe bumped the winning bidder as high as 129 Euros, 4 times within space of a minute, as it was ending, using his primary eBay ID oysterdelarge728, but then backed off for some reason.

The non-working titanium 7A38-7120 sold for 100 Euros after 15 bids. Giuseppe placed 4 bids: the highest was 99 Euros.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-Quartz ... 3895863407

7A38-7120-Titanium+Gold-CreamFace-eBay-Feb2021-(Re-seller)-Ended-Sold-100Euros.png (48.34 KiB) Viewed 10242 times

The 7A38-7240 sold for 101 Euros after 16 bids. To my incredulity, he seems to have left that one go unimpeded !

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-Quartz ... 3895868576

7A38-7240-Stainless+Gold-GreyFace-eBay-Feb2021-(Re-seller)-Ended-Sold-101Euros.png (49.92 KiB) Viewed 10242 times

[Seiko7A38]

Late yesterday evening, apart from re-listing the two previously over-shilled auctions, he listed more 7A28's and 7A38's from the ex-Stuart Lennard job lot. Bar the 7A38-728A, all are 7-day auctions again with opening bid prices of 1 Euro.

7A38-eBay-March2021-Giuseppe-ex-StuartLennard-x5.png (209.4 KiB) Viewed 10227 times

7A38-eBay-March2021-Giuseppe-ex-StuartLennard-x4.png (167 KiB) Viewed 10227 times

It'll be interesting to see if he gives this set his usual 'helping hand'. I must say, looking at his photos, although Giuseppe stands to profit from his initial outlay, with hindsight, I'm glad I didn't buy Stuart's job lot. Apart from the faults, some of them are a bit rough - particularly the well-worn 7A38-714A.

The only thing I was vaguely interested in (but certainly didn't need another) was Stuart's Kamatz 517000. I'd previously omitted to mention, that Giuseppe had also listed it last week, as a Buy-it-Now for 199 Euros.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rare-KAMATZ- ... 3900234869

Kamatz-517000-BlueFace+Gold-SubDials-eBay-Feb2021-(Re-seller-ex-StuartLennard)-Listing.png (208.12 KiB) Viewed 10220 times

Because I'd added it to my eBay watching page, I automatically received an unsolicited reduced offer price of 180 Euros. Needless to say, I declined it in the politest manner he deserved.

[Seiko7A38]

I don't mean to keep knocking the guy - honestly. But apart from being greedy and dishonest, Giuseppe is just plain sloppy. If you read the descriptions of his recent eBay listings, it's quite apparent he just copied and pasted them from one to another, in some cases editing them; others not. The upshot is a few of them include statements which are wholly inapplicable to that particular model. For example, the well-worn black chrome plated 7A38-714A includes:

Cosmetic flaws:
- Some minor, faint swirlies on the polished chamfers
- Some marks here and there on brushed surfaces

He listed the 7A38-728A on Subito this morning, in parallel. Check out his latest gaffe.

7A28-728A-Stainless+Gold-WhiteRomanFace-Subito-Giuseppe-Summary.png (37.04 KiB) Viewed 10210 times

[Seiko7A38]

As this is technically outside the scope of forum topics, I trust readers will allow me the indulgence of pointing out this latest slightly 'off topic' example of Giuseppe and his cronies' blatant use of shill bidding. 10 days ago, his 'puppet' eBay ID russell_06 listed a NOS Seiko p/n XAB321 bracelet for an 6138-8000 'Baby Panda' automatic chronograph, as a 10-day auction with an opening bid price of 1 Euro. The only reason I happened to spot it was that he'd included '7A38' in his mammoth keyword spamming string tacked onto the end of the description 'For more visibility' (as if it needed any). By that time it had already been shill bid to an absolutely ludicrous 1600 Euros. But it didn't quite stop there.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NOS-Seiko-Vi ... 3894233988

Seiko-6138-8000-BabyPanda-NOS-XAB321-Bracelet-eBay-Feb2021-Listing.png (147.02 KiB) Viewed 10205 times

The shillfest ended a few moments ago, with bidding at 1810 Euros after 64 bids.

Seiko-6138-8000-BabyPanda-NOS-XAB321-Bracelet-eBay-Feb2021-Ended-Sold-1810Euros.png (43.41 KiB) Viewed 10205 times

Giuseppe predictably ended up winning his own auction, using his primary eBay ID oysterdelarge728 (feedback 631).
His shill bidding accomplice eBay ID oysterdelarge727 (feedback 21) placed a total of 22 bids and came in third place.

Seiko-6138-8000-BabyPanda-NOS-XAB321-Bracelet-eBay-Feb2021-BiddingHistory.png (42.26 KiB) Viewed 10205 times

There was at least another shill involved, that I've yet to identify, with a feedback of 72 who placed 6 bids. As you can see from the screenshot below, they have 93% activity with russell_06, having been used to shill some of his 7A38's. I'm also somewhat suspicious of the bidder with a feedback of 97, who placed 25 of the total 64 bids. But then he may just have been somebody who actually wanted to buy the bracelet.

Seiko-6138-8000-BabyPanda-NOS-XAB321-Bracelet-eBay-Feb2021-Bidding-Details.png (37.65 KiB) Viewed 10205 times

The sentence at the bottom of that screen print is obviously an eBay 'insider' joke.

[Seiko7A38]

A couple of updates on Giuseppe's eBay listings for ex-Stuart Lennard 7A38's - the first, pretty much as anticipated ....

It's not as if any more proof of his greed (and frequent use of shill bidding), were needed, but yesterday evening, Italian eBay seller russell_06 (a.k.a. 'Giuseppe') re-listed the 7A38-728A with a 'pie-in-the-sky' Buy-it-Now price of 249 Euros.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-Quartz ... 3904514188

7A38-728A-Stainless+Gold-WhiteRomanFace-eBay-March2021-(Re-seller)-Re-Listing.png (164.95 KiB) Viewed 10184 times

Looking back at the bidding history of the previous ended auction, although it was supposedly bid to 181 Euros (by a succession of shills and won by 'Giuseppe' himself), best I can ascertain, the highest genuine bid was for 100 Euros !!

Ended yesterday evening as no longer available.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-Quartz ... 3904514188

7A38-728A-Stainless+Gold-WhiteRomanFace-eBay-March2021-(Re-seller-Re-listed)-Ended-NLA.png (48.4 KiB) Viewed 10185 times

The second came as something of a surprise, particularly after I'd written:

The 7A38-7240 sold for 101 Euros after 16 bids. To my incredulity, he seems to have left that one go unimpeded !

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-Quartz ... 3895868576

7A38-7240-Stainless+Gold-GreyFace-eBay-Feb2021-(Re-seller)-Ended-Sold-101Euros.png (49.92 KiB) Viewed 10181 times

It was back on eBay again yesterday evening, re-listed by russell_06 as another 7-day auction !

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-Quartz ... 3907143548

7A38-7240-Stainless+Gold-GreyFace-eBay-March2021-(Re-seller)-Re-Listing.png (179.55 KiB) Viewed 10181 times

[Seiko7A38]

Giuseppe's recent batch of eight 7-day auctions for his ex-Stuart Lennard 7Axx's ended late yesterday evening. Although none of the prices achieved were particularly remarkable as such, almost all of them showed evidence of shill bidding to some extent. This time, his use of his primary eBay ID oysterdelarge728 was uncharacteristically circumspect. Most of the shilling was done using his preferred alternate ID oysterdelarge727, which ended up being the losing bidder in 3 auctions. Typically, there was also a conspicuous amount of bidding by Zero or recently created low feedback bidders, which suggests he may be cultivating more potential future accomplices.

Here's a quick summary of the results:

The well-worn 7A38-714A sold for a comparatively low 126 Euros after 58 bids. An as yet unidentified bidder, with a feedback rating of only 2, who has 100% activity with the seller placed 37 of the 58 bids. I suspect that interference may well have deterred other genuine bidders.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-Quartz ... 3904510020

7A38-714A-Black-DarkGreyFace-eBay-March2021-(Re-seller)-Ended-Sold-126Euros.png (52.15 KiB) Viewed 10168 times

This time around, the re-listed 7A28-6040 sold for a slightly lower 146 Euros after 55 bids. Giuseppe's primary ebay ID, oysterdelarge728 with which he'd ineptly won the previous auction (feedback 631) was the losing bidder @ 145 Euros.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-Quartz ... 3904512819

7A28-6040-Black+Gold-LeatherStrap-eBay-March2021-(Re-seller-Re-listed)-Ended-Sold-146Euros.png (52 KiB) Viewed 10164 times

The black chrome JDM 7A28-7110 sold for 200 Euros after 30 bids. Accomplice oysterdelarge727 was the losing bidder. Incidentally, it's worth checking out their considerable recent (95%) activity with seller russell_06 - a total of 68 bids !!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-Quartz ... 3904520568

7A28-7110-Black-eBay-March2021-(Re-seller)-Ended-Sold-200Euros.png (49.18 KiB) Viewed 10158 times

The well-worn black chrome 7A38-7180 sold for 141 Euros after 17 bids. Again oysterdelarge727 was the losing bidder.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-Quartz ... 3904534370

7A38-7180-Black+Gold-eBay-March2021-(Re-seller)-Ended-Sold-141-Euros.png (49.97 KiB) Viewed 10154 times

The 2 two-tone 7A38-6090's sold for a fairly unremarkable 94 and 95 Euros after 17 and 26 bids respectively:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-Watc ... 3904549383

7A38-6090-Stainless+Gold-WhiteFace-eBay-March2021-(Re-seller)-Ended-Sold-94Euros.png (45.65 KiB) Viewed 10152 times

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-Watc ... 3904545584

7A38-6090-Stainless+Gold-WhiteFace-LeatherStrap-eBay-March2021-(Re-seller)-Ended-Sold-95Euros.png (49.83 KiB) Viewed 10152 times

The gold-tone 7A38-7260 sold for 105 Euros after 21 bids. Once again shill oysterdelarge727 was the losing bidder.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-Seik ... 3904552682

7A38-7260-Gold-WhiteFace-LeatherStrap-eBay-March2021-Ended-Sold-105Euros.png (49.06 KiB) Viewed 10149 times

I saved the best till last. The gold-tone 7A38-7029 sold for a higher than deserved 251 Euros after 63 bids. Unusually, both oysterdelarge727 and oysterdelarge728 were conspicuous by their total absence from the bidding. Instead, the bulk of the running was made a Zero feedback bidder, whose only activity to date is bidding on this watch, who placed 30 of the 63 bids and ended up winning it !!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-Quartz ... 3904540529

7A28-7029-Gold-eBay-March2021-(Re-seller)-Ended-Sold-251Euros.png (51.1 KiB) Viewed 10148 times

[Seiko7A38]

Speaking of oysterdelarge727, I trust readers will allow me the small indulgence of another slightly 'off topic' post. It seems that Giuseppe has decided it's time for him to come out of his shill. Sorry shell. In the early hours of yesterday morning, he listed this 4R36-04Y0 Prospex Turtle diver - rather than using his current secondary seller ID russell_06. I assume this is a veiled attempt to give this ID (which he's primarily used for shilling) some legitimacy.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-Prospe ... 4005665351

4R36-04Y0-ProspexTurtle-eBay-March2021-oysterdelarge727-Listing.png (223.36 KiB) Viewed 10136 times

Note that the item's location is shown as Gioia Tauro, as opposed to Reggio Calabria (used by russell_06). They're both coastal towns on the Southern 'toe' of Italy, but approx. 53 Kms apart.

Oysterdelarge727 came into being at the beginning of January, when Giuseppe changed the eBay ID from one that he'd created in mid-November last year. I never did manage to identify what it was, when it was used as shill previously.

eBay-ID-History-oysterdelarge727.png (6.02 KiB) Viewed 10126 times

Incidentally, like a few other devious sellers that spring to mind, Giuseppe's similarly named primary eBay ID, ending in '8' has gone through a fair number of identity crises over the years.

eBay-ID-History-oysterdelarge728.png (11.18 KiB) Viewed 10126 times

Just to show how brazen Giuseppe can be, I happened to check the feedback for his 'puppet' eBay selling ID russell_06

Russell_06-Feedback-63.png (40.29 KiB) Viewed 10112 times

Russell_06-Feedback-Giuseppe-oysterdelarge728-(631).png (16.92 KiB) Viewed 10112 times

He's since had the audacity to leave himself positive feedbacks against those 3 shilled auctions that he rashly won !

[Seiko7A38]

I guessed it was only a matter of time before Giuseppe sold off the last remaining Seiko 7Axx from the bargain priced bulk job lot that he'd purchased from erstwhile Australian collector Stuart Lennard in January this year for $1700 Au. Best I could ascertain, all he had left unsold was the crackle black coated titanium 7A28-7069 with a short bracelet, which Stuart had used as the primary image for his listing.

7A28-7A38-JobLot-eBay-Jan2021-Listing.png (200.87 KiB) Viewed 9522 times

7A28-7A38-JobLot-eBay-Jan2021-1.jpg (201.42 KiB) Viewed 9522 times

Giuseppe stopped listing watches on eBay as auctions some time ago and since reverted to Buy-it-Now format, using his secondary user ID oysterdelarge727. He listed the 7A28-7069 in the early hours of this morning, with a typically greedy asking price of 750 Euros. If you're considering making an offer, check the wrist size stated in his description: 17cm.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mint-Seiko-Q ... 4342786273

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7A28-7069-CrackleBlackTitanium-eBay-August2021-(Re-seller)-Description.png (18.52 KiB) Viewed 9509 times

[Seiko7A38]

Perhaps it's time to add a final footnote to this sorry saga. Profiteering Italian eBay seller oysterdelarge727 ended that previous listing for the ex-Stuart Lennard titanium 7A28-7069, in his customary manner, because of an error.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384342786273

7A28-7069-CrackleBlackTitanium-eBay-August2021-(Re-seller)-Ended-Error.png (49.16 KiB) Viewed 9269 times

He subsequently re-listed it twice, with the Buy-it-Now price reduced to 499 and 500 Euros - again without success.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384366721758

7A28-7069-CrackleBlackTitanium-eBay-Sept2021-(Re-Seller)-Ended-Error.png (49.21 KiB) Viewed 9269 times

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384403386343

7A28-7069-CrackleBlackTitanium-eBay-Sept2021-(Re-Seller)-Ended-Error-Again.png (51.77 KiB) Viewed 9269 times

Giuseppe stopped listing watches on eBay as auctions some time ago and since reverted to Buy-it-Now format, using his secondary user ID oysterdelarge727.

Bearing in mind what I'd written a couple of months ago (per the above quote), it took me by surprise, when, a week ago today, he re-listed it as a 7-day auction with an opening bid price of 1 Euro. I didn't bother taking a screenshot at the time, but added it to my eBay watching page out of curiosity. By early this morning, with 8 hours of the auction remaining, bidding had struggled to surpass the 200 Euro mark, despite having attracted some 90 bemused watchers.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mint-Seiko-Q ... 4414373173

7A28-7069-CrackleBlackTitanium-eBay-Sept2021-(Re-Seller)-Re-Listing-Auction-8Hours.png (204.69 KiB) Viewed 9269 times

With two minutes to go, it had still only just managed to surpass the 250 Euros mark. The auction ended a few moments ago in a flurry of bids, supposedly selling for 423 Euros after 37 bids.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384414373173

7A28-7069-CrackleBlackTitanium-eBay-Sept2021-(Re-Seller-Re-listed)-Ended-Sold-423Euros.png (50.19 KiB) Viewed 9268 times

The eBay Bidding History shows the encrypted winning bidder (with a feedback rating of 75) placed his bid with only 7 seconds remaining. Checking their 30-day bidding activity reveals they have 100% activity with the seller and recently bid on 3 of their auctions, strongly indicating a shill bidder.

7A28-7069-CrackleBlackTitanium-eBay-Sept2021-(Re-seller-re-listed)-WiningBidder-100%Activity.png (31.63 KiB) Viewed 9258 times

Given the encrypted user ID of 6***r, it wasn't exactly difficult to figure out the true identity: it's another of Giuseppe's multiple eBay ID's russell_06 as mentioned quite a few times (in a similar context of shill bidding) earlier in the thread.

7A28-7069-CrackleBlackTitanium-eBay-Sept2021-(re-listed)-WiningBidder-Russell_06.png (59.07 KiB) Viewed 9191 times

At the risk of repeating myself:

There's an old saying: a leopard never changes its spots. It would appear that a certain particularly greedy Italian eBay seller, a proven exponent of the loathsome practice of shill bidding, doesn't change his modus operandi either.

Belated Edit: In fact, it looks like Giuseppe managed to outshill himself TWICE this afternoon !! Of more anon ....

[Seiko7A38]

From my screenshot of the recent bidding activity in my previous post, you may have noticed that this encrypted ID 6***r (russell_06) won 2 out of 3 auctions they bid on. The other one listed by Italian eBay seller oysterdelarge727 (which I wasn't actually watching) was a JDM 7A28-701A, which he'd previously listed as a Buy-it-Now for 599 Euros:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mint-Seiko-Q ... 4406661104

7A28-701A-Stainless-BlackFace-eBay-Sept2021-Ended-Error.png (47.67 KiB) Viewed 9234 times

Again it was a re-listed as 7-day auction, with an opening bid price of 1 Euro, which ended approx. 20 minutes after the ex-Stuart Lennard titanium 7A28-7069, supposedly selling for 387 Euros after 58 bids.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mint-Seiko-Q ... 4414397200

7A28-701A-Stainless-BlackFace-eBay-Sept2021-Ended-Sold-387Euros.png (51.47 KiB) Viewed 9255 times

Checking the eBay Bidding History, Giuseppe placed his shill bid (using his ID russell_06), 42 seconds before the auction ended, intending to jack up the final selling price. Unfortunately the 15 subsequent snipe bids, which were placed in rapid succession by three different bidders, failed to exceed whatever his maximum bid might have been. The highest losing bid, placed 2 seconds before the end was 386 Euros.

I deliberately delayed adding this update till this morning, in the unlikely event that Giuseppe had re-listed either 7A28 overnight (citing a non-paying winning bidder). However I strongly suspect that the losing bidders of both these auctions received second chance offers almost immediately.

Incidentally, the third of Giuseppe's recent 7-day auctions (which his shill bidding accomplice russell_06 actually lost) was for a 'NOS' 7A38-6010 SAA040J. In hindsight, I could just have easily added it onto this thread, but instead chose to write it up as a separate topic in the 7A38 forum section: How much is a 'NOS' 7A38-6010 SAA040J really worth ?

[Seiko7A38]

Just to show how brazen Giuseppe can be, I happened to check the feedback for his 'puppet' eBay selling ID russell_06

Russell_06-Feedback-Giuseppe-oysterdelarge728-(631).png (16.92 KiB) Viewed 9100 times

He's since had the audacity to leave himself positive feedbacks against those 3 shilled auctions that he rashly won !

I note with contempt, that he's since done exactly the same thing with those two recently ended shilled 7A28 auctions:

Russell_06-Feedback-Giuseppe-Left-by-oysterdelarge727.png (62.71 KiB) Viewed 9094 times

'Brazen' doesn't really begin to describe his deceitful antics.

[Seiko7A38]

I don't normally bother watching eBay auctions for Seiko 7A28's, but I made an exception for this 7A28-7090 Yacht Timer which was listed listed as a 10-day auction, by one of the most notorious Italian sellers who regularly use shill bidding, and subject of this thread - Giuseppe M., a.k.a. oysterdelarge727. He met my expectations. The auction ended yesterday evening with the bidding @ €2232.22 Euros after 78 bids.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/385558717321

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If you check the bidding history, you'll see it was won by encrypted ID 8***7 with a feedback of 673.

7A28-7090-YatchTimer-eBay-April2023-Bidding.png (54.41 KiB) Viewed 1696 times

They placed a total of 6 bids on this item.

7A28-7090-YatchTimer-eBay-April2023-WinningBidder.png (35.26 KiB) Viewed 1696 times

Doesn't take much detective work to uncover the identity of the winning bidder - it's oysterdelarge728, Giuseppe's primary ID (which no surprise has a feedback of 673):

eBay-Profile-oysterdelarge728.png (36.81 KiB) Viewed 1696 times