Quote:
Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector
Shilling is when a seller at an auction bids on his own item or has someone on his behalf do it to basically create a hidden reserve so they can bid the card up to an amount that if real bidder wants the card that bidder would have to bid over that amount....the fake bidding also creates an impression that there are other bidders out there on the card as underbiddiers creating artificial value..
if you win a card for 1200 and the bid under you was 1120...you believe at least a bit that if you were to sell the card next week you would get close to 1120 at least...but if that 1120 bidder was just the seller of the original card then that creates false value..and maybe the card now sells for 700...unless you shill the card on your own and fake someone else out to pay more...
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Shilling has probably most often occurred in the past when the auction house "sees" your maximum bid (which was supposed to be known only to you) and "cha-chings" the bidding right up to but not over your max bid, usually in a flurry of bids a short time before the auction closes. I had this happen with my 1923 Lections Ruth (obtained in a Mastro auction--what a surprise, in retrospect!), and several other major auction houses, BUT NEVER, EVER REA (thank goodness that integrity and morals don't always vanish when money is involved!).
Best wishes,
Larry