This is the problem with grading...

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by brob28

Peter, it's been a long thread (I have read completely) so forgive me if I'm repeating a previous question. Say you are interested in a card and you decide you are willing to pay up to $5,000 for it. In the bidding for the card all bidders drop out at $3,500. All except the owner who shill bids you up to $5,000. After the auction you learn that the seller has shilled you up another $1,500 - this really would not bother you at all? You would not call the seller to discuss the shill bids?

What I'm really getting at here is the price for any item is what the market will bear. By shill bidding the seller created an artificially strong market for the item, effectively forcing you to overpay the market cost of the item.

That would definately bother me.

Your example seems different from mine where the seller has made a predetermination that he will only sell for $5000, and so in effect places a hidden reserve at that level through a shill. If someone is just encouraged by my $3500 bid to see if I will go higher, that seems different, but I haven't completely thought it through, I may be on a slippery slope myself perhaps.