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Joe D.What is the date of the NY Daily News article you are referring to?
It seems Leon is suggesting this is old news... and I am not sure if you directly countered that point.
Barry...
"In virtually all online auctions, including my own, the auction house gives the names of all the consignors and the lots he consigned to the web designer. He plugs those names into each lot and if the consignor tries to bid, he gets a message that he is not eligible to do so. That's a simple mechanism built into any auction software."
If someone is going to shill - why would they use their own name? I mean if it is against policy or auction rules to shill... I would think a shiller would be smart enough to use a name other than their own. Point being - the simple mechanism you mention above seems it would do very little to prevent shilling.
Shilling can happen in any auction, and the auction house is in a difficult position (and maybe impossible in some cases).
In the end though - as a bidder - you have to at least hope that the auction house itself is not involved in the shill practice. Without that confidence, it is hard to bid on items in that auction.
Thats why I listen to the guidance/opinions from people within my circle of collector-friends (Net54, NYC Dinner people and such) and I stick to names that have earned my trust...
like Lew Lipset, Barry Sloate, REA and some others.