Possible shill bidder?

[cyo27]

Hi guys,

I'm very new to bidding so please excuse me if I'm way off the mark or not understanding things properly. I just want to get your opinion on whether or not I may be going head to head with a shill bidder. Below is the current bidding history for the item:

 

I normally don't bid at all until the last minute, but I was recently burned when a seller ended the auction early on an item I really wanted. So this time I thought I'd put my max bid in and see what happens.

I was the one who pushed the bid price up to $60, and I'm currently the highest bidder. It's the 5***2 fellow I'm not sure about. They seem to keep coming back every few hours to put a new bid in, and I just find it a bit odd that they keep trying despite getting beaten by my max bid every time. I checked out their profile and they've only bid on 2 other items this month, from different sellers and no retractions. Am I simply overthinking this or could this person be a shill bidder? Thank you in advance for your assistance. 

 

[padi*0409]

Unlikely to be a shill bidder since they've bid on other seller's item and have no retractions. To me they just look like "a nibble bidder", that's the chances you take if you put your maximum bid in early.

[papermoon.lady · Accepted solution]

Most probably a newbie who followed the instructions on the screen "enter (the amount) or more" and got the message that he had been outbid every time up to your maximum bid. I remember that with my very first auction I did the same. And as padi said, that's exactly why people bid towards the end, but I know, sometimes sellers do accept offers or maybe they sell the item on another site, so they end the auction. It has happened to me too, although not so often.

[4channel]

I think at this stage the best you can do is just look and see if the same thing happens with this seller's other auctions.  If you see a pattern then your suspicions may be confirmed. The answer by papermoon.lady makes sense too.

[katistrophik]

If it is shill bidding, they are not very good at it LOL

[4channel]

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@cyo27 wrote:

Hi guys,

I'm very new to bidding so please excuse me if I'm way off the mark or not understanding things properly. I just want to get your opinion on whether or not I may be going head to head with a shill bidder.

 

I normally don't bid at all until the last minute, but I was recently burned when a seller ended the auction early on an item I really wanted. So this time I thought I'd put my max bid in and see what happens.

I was the one who pushed the bid price up to $60, and I'm currently the highest bidder. It's the 5***2 fellow I'm not sure about. They seem to keep coming back every few hours to put a new bid in, and I just find it a bit odd that they keep trying despite getting beaten by my max bid every time. I checked out their profile and they've only bid on 2 other items this month, from different sellers and no retractions. Am I simply overthinking this or could this person be a shill bidder? Thank you in advance for your assistance. 

 

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Below post from a switched on member,  from another thread gives an insight into an angle that is worked occasionally

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Re: SHILL BIDDING

@skyrider12-au wrote:

Kopenhagen - thanks for your input. I agree with all you say however, if a seller hasn't reached his (undisclosed) reserve and doesn't want to quit his item then shill bidding, to an amount he is willing to sell at, would achieve an outcome the seller would be happy with.

https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Buying/SHILL-BIDDING/m-p/1674477#M52849

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I'd say that this tactic has been employed on various occasions. I've seen evidence of this in the past.

[cyo27]

The person stopped bidding the day after I posted this so looks like you and padi were on the money, just an inexperienced bidder who kept raising their bid until they hit their max *max* bid and bowed out. Thanks for your help. 🙂

[padi*0409]

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@4channel wrote:

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I'd say that this tactic has been employed on various occasions. I've seen evidence of this in the past.

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4chan, it's been shown that there was NO shill-bidding happening in the OP's situation.

And dragging up a 6 year old thread by your mate, where even in that case it was uncertain if shill-bidding was going on, is quite simply putting up a smokescreen.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@4channel wrote:

Below post from a switched on member,  from another thread gives an insight into an angle that is worked occasionally 

I followed the link, didn’t remember that I had posted on that thread til I read the last 3 posts.  Yeah right, really switched on!

[4channel]

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@padi*0409 wrote:

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@4channel wrote:

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I'd say that this tactic has been employed on various occasions. I've seen evidence of this in the past.

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4chan, it's been shown that there was NO shill-bidding happening in the OP's situation.

And dragging up a 6 year old thread by your mate, where even in that case it was uncertain if shill-bidding was going on, is quite simply putting up a smokescreen.

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We don't know that for sure padi*0409. It is early days yet. I see papermoon.lady's post has been accepted as a solution and that's fine. She has offered an intelligent analysis of the situation no doubt! But possibilities other than her intelligent analysis may exist.

I just quoted a 6 year old thread post by skyrider12-au who is a very intelligent poster and who has shown quite  a few probabilities and helpful examples in his posts.  Nothing wrong in that!

The seller in question that relates to this subject should be checked up on by the OP down the track to see if there's a pattern.