Three of our top houses have reported to us fake and no-pay bidders and wondered what could be done to stop the disruption to their Proxibid sessions. Two auctioneers have told us that they have encountered more than 10 no-pay bidders in the past week. Another auctioneer had to deal with a suspected fake bidder, someone who has been banned from Proxibid and/or who registers under a false name.

Sometimes these fake bidders are Internet trolls who enjoy placing bids with no intent ever to pay or who taunt auctioneers during sessions through the feedback window. Luckily, we find little evidence of that on the portal.

If you are an auctioneer dealing with a no-pay buyer, it is important to notify Proxibid rather than simply ignore the infraction and relist the lot(s). Remember, the Unified User Agreement specifies “in the event for any reason the transaction between the Buyer and the Seller is not consummated or the Buyer otherwise does not make payment of the total purchase price owed to Seller with respect to the successful bid, within fifteen (15) days of the date of the bid, the successful Buyer agrees to pay the Proxibid Premium directly to Proxibid. Any default in payment will be subject to interest and collection fees as set forth under Section 27 below.”

Proxibid has terminated accounts of chronically late/no-pay bidders.

Sometimes those terminations result in the creation of a fake bidder, a person who wants to retaliate against Proxibid or a particular auctioneer.

That’s when sessions can be disrupted, costing auctioneers, consignors and Proxibid time and money. (Keep in mind that auctioneers can choose to increase security in their sessions if they want. It’s a business decision. Raise the bar and fewer people get in; but it’s safer.)

Also know that it is difficult for a bidder to re-register on the portal after an account is terminated. There are various ways to do that–which we won’t divulge, of course–and the bidder may have to change addresses, emails, and even bank, credit card and PayPal accounts. Some bidders pay for an anonymizing proxy or similar service, allowing the banned bidders to stealthily re-enter the portal. Anonymzing proxies are specifically forbidden on Proxibid, yet another serious violation of the Unified User Agreement. Still other banned users get associates to open accounts that they use to re-enter the portal.

Proxibid, like eBay, has technical abilities to identify and ban such trolls, but that can take time. This is why it is essential for auctioneers to report any such incident, along with the specifics, to Proxibid Customer Service.

For more information, or to report an incident, telephone 1-877-505-7770 or email Useragreement@proxibid.com.

Proxiblog is an independent entity with no connection to the auction portal Proxibid. Our intent is to uphold basic numismatic standards as established by the American Numismatic Association and the National Auctioneer Association and to ensure a pleasurable bidding experience not only on Proxibid but also on similar portals such as iCollector and AuctionZip.