Won my first assorted Greenfire Farms auction! Woohoo!

[Purpletie3]

Well the USPS had lost my chicks.

They haven't tracked since last night and they did not make it to the PO today. So at the earliest, I will have them early tomorrow morning. IF they can get their *#%\ together and find them. I'm so bummed. Keep you fingers crossed that they find them and that they are all ok when I get them.

I know they are guaranteed overnight but out of 10 orders I have had they don't get here until Wednesday. Once even Thursday. Only two on Tuesday.

I wouldn't worry yet. If you don't see them tomorrow morning have the PO track them down.

I hope they arrive safe and sound for you and you get some cool breeds!

 

[FuzzyHens]

My chicks showed up early this morning! I got Spitzhauben, Malines, Barbezieux and Niedderheiner. One of them was very weak and died this morning but the others are all doing great. I absolutely love the Spitzhauben!!! They are so stinking cute!!

 

[DCIchicken]

Hello everyone,

I know this is an older thread by a few months but I wanted to know if anyone had any updates to their posts from winning the assortment auctions from rarebreedauctions.com. I have been watching this website closely as I have been actively trying to win an auction myself, but I feel like it's a scam. Several times now I have been "outbid" by the same users on different auctions, but when I look at the bid history of the auctions it clearly looks like bots raising the bids on purpose. Time stamps in the middle of the night, double time stamps from two different users (which is a clear indication of something not being correct), prices being raised by huge amounts on dollar bids.... It just all looks wrong, very similar to years ago when EBay had this problem. You could bid on something and instantly be outbid by a computer because said user set a "blind" minimum regardless of how low they started their auction.

I suppose where I'm going with this is I noticed everyone on this thread seems to have paid well over $100 for their assortments when the last few auctions I have seen started at $1. The current auction today started at $1 and has been jacked to $95. Guess what? It ends sometime today, which looks exactly like the same trend that's going on in this thread. Auction starts low, somehow makes it closer to half the asking cost (or more) of the normal cost of the assortment directly from Greenfire Farms by the end. Sure it could be real people bidding, but there's too much of a computerized pattern in my opinion.

Does anyone remember how much their auctions started at? Or if their bid history on the auctions you won was similar in driving up the price until it hit a certain point and then you won? I would also like to know how the birds are doing; ripoff report has a few negatives about that site and greenfire selling sick birds. I know you always keep them quarnteened from your main flock for several weeks in the beginning to prevent these issues, none the less I figured I would bring all the information I have researched to the conversation.

Anyways any replys would be appreciated, I would like to win myself an assortment but I'm personally not buying into the idea that that particular site is being managed properly. Thanks in advanced!

Here is a screen shot of the current auction so you can see the users, time stamps, and amounts being bid that I am referring to. Again, similar activity and users seem to do this on majority of the auctions I have viewed until they hit a certain dollar amount, then it stops.

 

[DCIchicken]

I suppose this topic won't get any love but I know for sure that site is a scam now. Here's a photo of the next assortment auction that followed my last post; clearly the price is being raised on purpose. Who bids against themselves?!!? And once again there's two bids at the same time stamp, including the first being the original bidder! Just look below. Beware anyone who buys from this site.

 

[Lacylu]

I suppose this topic won't get any love but I know for sure that site is a scam now. Here's a photo of the next assortment auction that followed my last post; clearly the price is being raised on purpose. Who bids against themselves?!!? And once again there's two bids at the same time stamp, including the first being the original bidder! Just look below. Beware anyone who buys from this site.

I was planning to create an account but now that you showed me I won't do it. Is it legitimately a scam?

 

[DCIchicken]

Well what you see is real. I have been watching it more closely lately and even bid on some things. Some breeders seem to have a hidden minimum and my guess is every time someone bids, they automatically match it or raise it until it hits a certain amount. Only then will bids "stick". Look at some history on the auctions that have multiple bids and you'll see patterns like my screen shots.

Either way yes that's against their code of conduct. Can I actually prove it? Nope. There's plenty of other breeders that you can actually bid and win. Overall just watch it for awhile and it's only $3 so not a huge loss if you never win.

 

[Silk Madness]

That's how they "pay" for the auction or make money off it, by charging everyone $3. Three dollars indeed! To prove you are not a robot? Why not just used Captcha?

 

[Zoomie]

Don't know what to tell you but I bid on an auction and no one bid against me so I won it at the listing price.

A lot of people know about RBA so yeah, there will be a lot of bids. Not always, but usually, and it can depend on time of year and the auction in question.

If you guys don't want to bid, that is fine with me. It's up to you what you would like to do, and more power to you - do what works for you. My own experience was very positive. I am raising my chicks right now. They look terrific. Good luck if you do decide to bid!

 

[DCIchicken]

What looks suspect turned out to be just something that I didn't see explained. I said "some" auctions, not all looked rigged. But apparently a bid can start at $1 and one person can bid say $50 but the bid will only increase by whatever is listed. So bidding $50 is like a hidden reserve, you get the first or current bid whatever the price is, and if someone bids in between your current bid and your hidden reserve bid, it would automatically re-outbid them.

Ex. Starting bid $1 for an assortment, I bid $50. I get the current $1 bid (instead of it automatically raising to $50), joe blow comes along and bids $10. Since I originally put in $50, I automatically take the next bid until they reach my hidden minimum. Never seen this before, looks suspect as hell but I see how these guys are going on and placing bids for $80-$100 off the start and every time I or someone else would place a bid, it would automatically raise. Looks just like how eBay once was, but none of this was explained, admin didn't have anything to say about it, and anyone reading this forum hasn't bothered to chime in and explain it either. So I'm guessing most people don't know this information or don't care, but I hate getting ripped off by online business so that's why I jumped on here to see if anyone had more information about the process.

I have seen auctions that are won on the first bid. Most of the time I suppose they are not what everyone, including myself, are rushing to try to win. I was generally speaking more on the more popular of sellers I saw this occurrence.

Anyways there's some free research for anyone willing to read it. Scam? No. Bots? Probably not. However this method does allow for anyone to go on and set a minimum for their birds by simply making another account or having someone do it for them, set a hidden bid for XX amount, and if nobody gets past that amount the chicks don't end up selling for less than what that seller wanted.

Oh and $3 to make sure "you are human" is a joke, it's a way for the site to get paid (don't know if they take a commission from people who make sales or whatever). If I sold lots of rare breeds and I didn't want them selling out for $12 or dollar bids you bet I would pay a stinking $3 to make sure my bottom line is profitable.

Done with this thread, hope this all helps for clarification purposes.

 

[Purpletie3]

Hi there- I have purchased about 10 times from RBA. Never had an issue or felt that is was not working correctly. I find that if you really want an auction you have to be monitoring it the whole time but especially the last few minutes. I have had to re-adjust my maximum bid many many times to win. I also know some of those who are bidding against me are very real & very competitive if they are looking to round out their flock. I have paid $40 before and almost $400...