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Posted By: davidcycleback

For many people who were shilled, when they turn to resell the item that's when they realize that they didn't pay a fair market price for the item. It's not unlike when someone buys a card at market value, then when he turns to resell he's informed the card's a reprint. These are different ways to cheat someone out of money. The person didn't realize he was cheated at the time-- he may have been pleased with his purchase at the time-- but he later realized he was cheated. In either instance you would be unable to convince the person he was wasn't cheated out of money.

Many collectors and non-collectors don't know the true market value of their items until they try and sell-- I'm sure we've all had personal experiences with this--, and value, grade and even true identification are not discovered until that time. This is why unhappy revelations about worth, authenticity and the ethics of the dealer sometimes don't happen until long after the items were purchased.

Besides, if shilling is illegal, the theoretical arguments are moot. Theoretical arguments don't wouldn't make it any less illegal.