Can't fight City Hall- eBay protecting their large sellers (probstein content)

[thenextlevel]

You cannot police it. Some auctions that may seem shilled, may actually be legitimate auctions. You can never prove this. Like others have said, just don't bid on his auctions, or if you do, have a firm price that you want to pay(possible using completed auction comparables).

[ALR-bishop]

I go into any auction believing the seller has a price below which he does not want to sell the card, or a price he wants to get for the card. He may do it with a BIN, a reserve, a high opener, or by shilling. While the ethics of those methods obviously vary, I do not see it mattering in the end to me. On ebay, or in a house auction I set a snipe or place a max bid in the amount I am willing to pay, and that 's it. If I lose, I lose. if I win I don't check the bid history unless I later get a 2nd chance offer. I never pay more than what I thought the card was worth to me

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

I go into any auction believing the seller has a price below which he does not want to sell the card, or a price he wants to get for the card. He may do it with a BIN, a reserve, a high opener, or by shilling. While the ethics of those methods obviously vary, I do not see it mattering in the end to me. On ebay, or in a house auction I set a snipe or place a max bid in the amount I am willing to pay, and that 's it. If I lose, I lose. if I win I don't check the bid history unless I later get a 2nd chance offer. I never pay more than what I thought the card was worth to me

I understand your view on this. I used it to buy the only item I ever purchased from Problemstein. That was about 6 months ago and every time I see it I wish I had spent the extra $40 and bought it from someone else.

Blue 58 Topps Hank Aarons are selling at all time highs. I can get you one at a slight discount, any interest?

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by thenextlevel

You cannot police it. Some auctions that may seem shilled, may actually be legitimate auctions. You can never prove this. Like others have said, just don't bid on his auctions, or if you do, have a firm price that you want to pay(possible using completed auction comparables).

So if your belief is ‘only bid up to what you’re willing to spend’, then let me ask you this. Let’s say you budget $250 a month for your electric bill and it's consistently under that amount. However, you find out that the meter reader has been misreading it for months, and not in your favor. Does it bother you enough to do something about it, or do you just keep stroking that check every month and tell yourself, "Well, at least it’s under my monthly budget”?

[tschock]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

So if your belief is ‘only bid up to what you’re willing to spend’, then let me ask you this. Let’s say you budget $250 a month for your electric bill and it's consistently under that amount. However, you find out that the meter reader has been misreading it for months, and not in your favor. Does it bother you enough to do something about it, or do you just keep stroking that check every month and tell yourself, "Well, at least it’s under my monthly budget”?

Or how many with the same belief would INSIST on paying market price to someone who KNOWINGLY provides the item at a discount? "Please, take my extra $50 since VCP says you are giving it to me below market price."

Personally I think those that don't have a problem with shilling fall into 2 categories. Those trying to justify that it doesn't matter (the "market price" crowd), and those that don't care (the "don't worry, be happy" crowd).

[VoodooChild]

Please excuse my ignorance on this, but where does current card market price come from and where did it come from before the internet/ebay?

Even though I assume every ebay auction is shilled, it appears to me that the sold listings set the market price. I've won cards from respected auction houses that advertise here and have paid around what they have sold for on ebay. So what am I supposed to do? Where do I buy cards for prices that are not affected by ebay shills? Even cards I buy here on the BST are not that much cheaper than ebay sold listing prices minus the ebay/paypal fee percentages.

[thenextlevel]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

So if your belief is ‘only bid up to what you’re willing to spend’, then let me ask you this. Let’s say you budget $250 a month for your electric bill and it's consistently under that amount. However, you find out that the meter reader has been misreading it for months, and not in your favor. Does it bother you enough to do something about it, or do you just keep stroking that check every month and tell yourself, "Well, at least it’s under my monthly budget”?

Do I have the "option" of paying the electric bill or not, as I have the "option" of paying for a card. I get the example that you are trying to make, but as I stated, don't bid blindly. Once again, I do not condone shillers, but I do buy what I want for my collection, at the price I wish to pay. Whether that be from a shilling seller or not, by following this rule of thumb, I never beat myself up over any purchase.