ok Lawyers- Is shill bidding illegal?

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Posted By: T206Collector

But I think you're missing my fundamental point, which is market efficiency. In your reverse example, the price realized isn't reflective of what the highest voluntary bidder was willing to pay -- what I believe is the closest true market value for the card.

In other words, I do not think you are "artificially raising the bidding of others" when you are forcing the high bidder to pay closest to what he is willing to pay for it.

You keep saying "artificial," but my premise is founded on the notion that the high bidder was a rationale acting placing his ceiling bid voluntarily. The only "artificial" is the underbidding, but since we arrive at the highest accepted value for the item, markets clear.

"The shiller argues that a collector should place a maximum bid he's comfortable with, and if the max was too high that was the collector's fault."

No. That was the collector's reflection of the appropriate market value.

Again, answer me this question: if you were selling a rare card, would you want to know what the second highest bidder was willing to pay or what the first highest bidder was willing to pay? In a non-shilling world, you will only ever know what the second highest bidder was willing to pay.



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