Ebay Shill bidding?

[swarmee]

Originally Posted by Fballguy

You apparently aren't very familiar with ebay so to you it's not odd that there's a bidder that likes to bid immediately then never again...repeatedly. I spend a lot of time researching sale prices and auction results on ebay and to me it's unusual. I'm just curious as to what the advantage or point of it is.

I do it regularly on items that I want to show up in my bids page, and usually to get rid of a Best Offer option on items; eBay notifies you more often on the app if you've placed a bid than if you just watch it. Then I pay attention to those items and if I want to win it, place a snipe bid at the end. If the bidding exceeds what I would pay, I never bid again. So that's the point. Just another way to watch an item.

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by swarmee

I do it regularly on items that I want to show up in my bids page, and usually to get rid of a Best Offer option on items; eBay notifies you more often on the app if you've placed a bid than if you just watch it. Then I pay attention to those items and if I want to win it, place a snipe bid at the end. If the bidding exceeds what I would pay, I never bid again. So that's the point. Just another way to watch an item.

This exactly.

When the opening bid price is 99 cents, and the seller has as varied and eclectic material as Jon does, there are bound to be any number of bidders waiting in the weeds for his next round of listings. That one of them catches them within minutes of new listings appearing is not all that surprising to me (I have been OCD enough to do so with sellers' listings by refreshing their store page over and over on days I knew them to be listing, and it wouldn't surprise me to learn that there are apps that would do the same and send an alert when new items populate). When the starting price is low, it can be easier to place an initial bid on all the items one is interested in than to "Watch" them. I have done this as well with various sellers over the years, particularly when my Watch List nears being maxed out (there is a limit to how many items you can "watch", but there is no limit to how many items you can bid on).

Incidentally, while it's been a while since I've bought from Jon, I have dealt with him a number of times over the years. I'm typically looking for deals to re-sell later, and there are bound to be some from time to time when everything starts at 99 cents. If he was shilling me at any point, he was doing it wrong He always seems to take the "you win some, you lose some" attitude when selling, and continues to grind out auction after auction, all with the same 99-cent starting price that I wish I had the guts to emulate (cuts down on lingering backstock!) While I too have never met him in person, I have never had reason to suspect Jon of any wrongdoing. Ebay bidders can be weird, plain and simple, and it seems unfortunate to me that an odd bidder is causing anyone to doubt Jon's business ethics in this case.

[Aj-hman]

There is lots of spirited comment but more importantly thoughtfulness and knowledge in this thread. So in an effort to make more clear if shill bidding is occurring lets dig a little deeper. As a group lets take a look at a product not a specific seller or buyer and see if there are notable patterns. I propose we collectively go to ebay, watch and then review biding history for the auction of "1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr PSA 10". A week of observation should do it.