Thread: shill bidders?
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Old 07-16-2014, 08:35 AM
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Peter Spaeth
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jhs5120 View Post
There was a thread a while back where someone accused Sean/Greg Morris of shilling a bunch of 1960 Topps Tatoos. The bidder had sveral retractions, a high percentage with GM and seemed to bid often. It was later established that the bidder wasn't shilling. I don't think it's nearly as easy to spot shill bidders than members lead to believe. A good start:

A high percentage of bids with the seller; and
A large number of retractions; and
Low feedback; and
Whole number bids in a sporadic increments.

I only see maybe one of those things here. Certainly not enough to out an auction and accuse people of shilling, but what do I know.
I agree there will be cases where something looks like shill bidding but in fact isn't. But there are so many of these suspicious-looking auctions, usually with the same sellers, that I think it's a near certainty that at least some of them are not innocent. If it looks like a duck, it usually is a duck, even if once in a while it might not be.
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