Would this raise your shilling suspicions?

[Revenant]

If you saw a seller with a feedback of 14,000+, and then saw that 1 bidder is winning many of their auctions ending soon, that this bidder had 4100+ feedback, but that 68% of his bidding activity is with this 1 seller, would you suspect a shill?

[James_OldeTowne]

Probably, but even if I bothered with eBay, I wouldn't be worried about it. Just bid your absolute max and be done with it.

[PerryHall]

I don't see much difference between a shill and a reserve. In both cases, you are bidding against the sellers minimum acceptable sell price. Bid what it's worth to you and let it ride.

[gmarguli]

Given the buyer has 4,100+ feedback, I'd be more likely to suspect that he is a legit buyer and just bid a lot from this seller. Also, isn't that 68% number only the last 30 days? His recent bids on this sellers items could be the first time he's ever bid on the sellers items.

[Mark T]

I don't see much difference between a shill and a reserve. In both cases, you are bidding against the sellers minimum acceptable sell price. Bid what it's worth to you and let it ride.

 

 

I was recently banned for a week from the EBAY coin chat room because I posted that I saw no difference between a reserve auction and someone shilling . EBAY said I violated policy because I recommended that people do something that violates their policy .

Apparently EBAY does not have issue with all the scams that are listed everyday . They need to spend more time monitoring that then a chat group.

 

 

[James_OldeTowne]

I don't see much difference between a shill and a reserve. In both cases, you are bidding against the sellers minimum acceptable sell price. Bid what it's worth to you and let it ride.

I agree that this is the case in a proxy type auction, such as eBay. But we want to keep in mind that this is not so at a "live" auction. Nobody enjoys being "worked" by an auction house!

 

Really, I never did care one way or another about shill bidding on eBay, and by the way, I believe it to be absolutely rampant on that site. Frankly, eBay could not care less about stopping shills, because ultimately, they contribute to the bottom line. Sure, sure, they'll make examples out of a few shillers here and there, but that's just to proliferate the illusion that they care.

 

They don't, and would rather see the practice continue.

[michael]

Probably, but even if I bothered with eBay, I wouldn't be worried about it. Just bid your absolute max and be done with it.

 

 

(thumbs u

 

if i had $10 every time i have seen this and found out/told it was shill

i would be rich

[BillJones]

I don't see much difference between a shill and a reserve. In both cases, you are bidding against the sellers minimum acceptable sell price. Bid what it's worth to you and let it ride.

I agree that this is the case in a proxy type auction, such as eBay. But we want to keep in mind that this is not so at a "live" auction. Nobody enjoys being "worked" by an auction house!

 

 

I have to agree with James on this one. I see nothing wrong with an auction reserve that is set before the bidding begins. A seller should have some right to protect their merchandise. I see a big problem where you have a live shill at a live auction who can judge the interest of a bidder and run them up accordingly.

 

Here’s an extreme example. Many years ago the late John J. Pittman was bidding on an 1854 Gem Proof Type II gold dollar at an auction. Mr. Pittman was so excited about this piece that when the auction lot came up for sale, he stood up in the audience, raised his hand high and stood there as the bids went higher and higher. This because known as the “statue of liberty” incident. Obviously a shill bidder could have seen his enthusiasm and run him up to a final bid that was higher than what have normally occurred.

 

 

[PerryHall]

I see a big problem where you have a live shill at a live auction who can judge the interest of a bidder and run them up accordingly.

 

Sounds like the seller runs the very real risk of buying his own coin and paying both the buyers fee and the sellers fee.

[BillJones]

Sounds like the seller runs the very real risk of buying his own coin and paying both the buyers fee and the sellers fee.

 

Usually it's not the owner of the consignment who is doing the bidding. Shills are quite often employees who place bids that they don't have to honor.

 

I remember that I was at a small coin auction years ago, and there was young guy in the front of the room who was bidding on every lot. He did "win" a few lots, but quite often he seemed to quit when the price hit "a fair number." After while it started to become obvious that this guy was not a true bidder. There are darn few auctions where the same bidder is interested in buying every lot regardless of what it is.