I was the victim of shill bidding on ebay!

[HRBAKER]

Steve,

If the opener is $4.99 and a legitimate bidder puts a proxy bid in of $65 and is the only legitimate bidder but is driven to say $50+ by a series of "shill" bids and then I snipe and win it for say $55 - I would say my price was adversely affected by a shill even though I sniped.

Extreme example I know.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by HRBAKER

Steve,

If the opener is $4.99 and a legitimate bidder puts a proxy bid in of $65 and is the only legitimate bidder but is driven to say $50+ by a series of "shill" bids and then I snipe and win it for say $55 - I would say my price was adversely affected by a shill even though I sniped.

Extreme example I know.

How do you win it for 55 if another bidder has a 65 max?

[WhenItWasAHobby]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

How do you win it for 55 if another bidder has a 65 max?

That's easy Peter. According to the Shill Bidder's Handbook, Chapter 5, Paragraph 6, it states, "If your shill bid wins, send the second highest bidder 'a second chance offer' and use the excuse that the winning bidder just died, fell into a terminal coma or his account was hacked, or some other lame excuse. If the second bidder declines, re-list the item with an opening bid for the same amount the second highest bidder placed his bid in the previous auction."

[steve B]

Originally Posted by HRBAKER

Steve,

If the opener is $4.99 and a legitimate bidder puts a proxy bid in of $65 and is the only legitimate bidder but is driven to say $50+ by a series of "shill" bids and then I snipe and win it for say $55 - I would say my price was adversely affected by a shill even though I sniped.

Extreme example I know.

That's not how the proxy bid works. If a legit bidder places a $65 proxy you can't win it for $55. The bider who bid $65 would win for 55+one increment.

Steve B

[HRBAKER]

Steve,
See post #71, I corrected myself. You are right.
Thanks, Jeff

[steve B]

I've been trying to think of a way a large volume seller could monitor their auctions or proactively discourage shilling without resorting to measures that would turn off nearly all their consignors.

Automating a system to catch the obvious ones afterward isn't hard. And should probably be done. Not much in prevention, but at 10K auctions a month it's entirely possible that the person writing the checks and the person shipping the item aren't the same person. And probably aren't checking for problems.

I think that they might discourage some of the more blatant shills by stating the ebay name of the consignor if there is one. That would eliminate the obvious since the person wouldn't want to shill if the info was plainly available.

Someone more subtle would probably be hard to catch. It's a pretty trivial thing to ask a friend to bid on an item. I've never sone it as a shill, but I have had friends snipe stuff for me while I was on vacation, and have bought stuff for a friend who has a bad enough relationship with one seller that if he bids the seller pulls the item or makes up a reason not to ship it.

I just can't think of any way to track that.

I've also had at least one experience where it really looked like shilling. Nearly unique item, I was the underbidder and got a second chance offer within 5 minutes of the end. The winner had less than 20 feedback and 100% with that seller. I passed on the second chance offer and eventually won the second of the two items which was actually nicer for less about a month later. (1948 US olympic cycling team jersey - race worn, and from the son of the racer who himself raced in 64)

I don't spend a lot of time worrying about it. But then, most of my purchases are under $100, usually way under. And often under $10. Not much there for a shiller.

Steve B

[atx840]

This guy sure has a broad interest in bb cards. Recent bidding activity by randomly checking Probstein auctions

2012 Bowman Chrome Prospects Superfractor Joc Pederson RC AUTO 1/1 BGS 9.5 w/ 10
1933 Goudey #154 Jimmy Foxx Philadelphia Athletics HOF SGC 80 EX-NM 6
1969 Topps #533 Nolan Ryan Mets HOF PSA 8 NM-MT
2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Baseball Hobby Box Factory Sealed
1956 Topps Gray Back #106 Joe Astroth Kansas City Athletics PSA 8 NM-MT
T206 Newt Randall Milwaukee Polar Bear RARE Back BVG 6 EX-MT
1955 Red Man #NL7 Willie Mays HOF New York Giants BVG 8 NM-MT POP 1 , LOW POP
1973 Topps #220 Nolan Ryan California Angel HOF PSA 8 NM-MT OC