Victim of shilling?

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Posted By: <b>Rich H.</b><p>I wanted to ask everyone's advice about a couple of auctions that I won recently from this ebay seller.<br /><br />I noticed very curious bidding activity that appears to be shilling. Please see these links:<br /><br /><a href="http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=260139335966" target="_new" rel="nofollow">http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=260139335966</a><br /><br />and<br /><br /><a href="http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=260134824293" target="_new" rel="nofollow">http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=260134824293</a><br /><br /><br />Bidder 7 in the first auction and Bidder 6 in the second appear to be the same person by the feedback profile. 97% of his bids were on the seller's auctions alone.<br /><br />The seller's ebay handle is: hlg1219. Anyone else deal with this person?<br />Incidentally, I did receive the George Schoch card fine.<br /><br />What recourse do I have on the T206 Mullaney card? I understand that I am "under contract" to pay what I bid, but if this is indeed shill bidding, should I have an obligation to pay for this auction as the final value may not reflect true "market" price? Please understand that it is not an issue if I have sufficient funds or not - I just feel a bit "taken."<br /><br />Any thoughts/advice would be much appreciated.<br />thanks,<br /><br />Rich Ha<br /><br />

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Posted By: <b>Jim VB</b><p>Looks to me like the same person "walked" both your bids up. But you have to report it to Ebay to get them to look into it. (They did, recently, nail an auction house for doing exactly that.)<br /><br />In the meantime, protect your own reputation. Pay. Get the card. Avoid that seller in the future.

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Posted By: <b>Dave</b><p> definitely report this guy to Ebay. Shilling is so easy now on Ebay that I'm afraid even reputable sellers are being tempted when they see the money that can be made. This looks like a blatant shill job either by a friend of the seller or by another account that he or a relative or friend started. <br /><br /> on a side note, my brother emailed me the other day, and said that he had busted another power seller shilling E-cards about 2 weeks ago. the shillaccounts had feedback scores of 1007, and 701 respectively. So they didn't appear to be shills until you looked at their bid history, location, etc...

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Posted By: <b>T206Collector</b><p>...you bid on this auction so far in advance. Why would you do that? <br /><br />As I have said about a zillion times on Net54, if you bid on an ebay auction more than 20 seconds before it ends, you are inviting both legitimate bids against your proxy as well as illegitimate shill bids. Gavelsnipe.com is free and works beautifully.<br /><br />Save yourself the aggravation and lost money.... stop lining the pockets of sellers by bidding early.... The only people who gain advantage by early bidding are the seller and the auction house. Why else do you think the auction houses advise you to "bid early and often"?<br /><br />Bidders need to take steps to protect themselves. I have very little sympathy for those that place extraordinarily high ceiling bids early and then wonder why people bid into their ceiling.

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Posted By: <b>Rich H.</b><p>Everyone, Thanks for the advice.<br /><br />I place bids early because I don't have a lot of time to continue following the auctions or to arrange a time for sniping.<br />I've not tried these sniping services - maybe I should. I guess I've been behind the curve on Ebay "savviness."<br /><br /><br />

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Posted By: <b>Mark T</b><p>yes, i understand about not having time. Go to gavelsnipe.com and sign up. After you are all set you just copy the link to the auction you want to snipe and just put in the price you are willing to pay. Its that easy, you get to set it down to 10 seconds before auction closes. If you have trouble just email me...<br /><br />

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Posted By: <b>Rich H.</b><p>Just a thought and a question regarding sniping services.<br /><br />Could the third party service then "sell" bid information to motivated auction houses or other bidders who want the information to get an idea of closing prices?<br /><br />I know this sounds like a conspiracy theory, but not beyond the realm of possibility.<br /><br />Rich H.

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Posted By: <b>MVSNYC</b><p>hi rich, we have done a lot of business together...i'm with you (i don't use a snipe service)...i guess we should both try it now.<br /><br />p.s. i know it is no comfort to hear this, but i don't think you overpaid for the PSA 7 SL T206...that is inline with market prices, IMO. but i guess it still should be reported to eBay...i hate this new bidder # crap.<br /><br />best-<br />MS

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Posted By: <b>T206Collector</b><p>...they could. That might actually make for more rational markets. That's because auction prices are really not the best indicator of market value. Rather, the final auction price only reflects a marginal increase over the second-highest bid -- not what the winner was willing to pay. So, a sniping service could, theoretically, sell those highest ceiling bids to an auction house or other bidders. <br /><br />That could, I suppose raise prices a bit. But I'm generally for any guide that reflects the true market value of cards.<br /> <br />

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Posted By: <b>Rich H.</b><p>MS,<br /><br />you're probably right on the market value. Like i said before, I understand my obligation for payment and have always followed through promptly - i will do so in this case as well. But I will take the advice of the others who responded and let Ebay know and then begin using a sniping service.<br /><br />Rich

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Posted By: <b>Rich H.</b><p>T206,<br /><br />Good point.<br /><br /><br />