topic Re: Shill Bidding in Ask a member

Shill Bidding

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Nov 2018 01:41:36 GMT

I am bidding on this item at the moment (292825479835) and I have a nasty feeling someone is shill bidding, it might just be my imagination because over 10+ other bids I was bidding on (from China) the guy was blatantly doing just that, but I caught him out and reported him to Ebay.

So maybe I'm just imagining things with this one but I do find it strange that a person with absolutely "0" feedback is suddenly bidding on an expensive item, yet he has not one bid on anything else anywhere.

I am winning at the moment but if I see this guy again bidding on this item I am in two minds whether I should contact the seller and warn him if he is shill bidding he will be reported but also I really do not want to let this item go but I don't want to be overcharged for something I could have gotten cheaper.

Any advice is appreciated.

Re: Shill Bidding

repentatleisure1952 — Mon, 26 Nov 2018 01:57:44 GMT

Have you considered that the bidder with zero feedback may want the item & created an account with this in mind...idk?

If I were to bid on this item I would consider the manner in which you bid to be odd.

I do not worry about other bidders...I place one bid for my not one penny more max 2 seconds from the end of the auction & let the cards fall where they may.

Re: Shill Bidding

lyndal1838 — Mon, 26 Nov 2018 04:50:33 GMT

The only peculiar bidding pattern that I can see is yours.

If you do contact the seller I would think you might find yourself blocked from bidding and your present bids removed.

If you don't want to pay through the nose for an item just wait till the auction is nearly over then place one bid.....your highest amount.

Every time you pace a nibble bid you are showing your hand and inviting others to outbid you.

Re: Shill Bidding

imastawka — Mon, 26 Nov 2018 04:53:30 GMT

Very strange bidding.

You've let them know way ahead of time that you are willing (very willing) to pay way over the top for this item.

If it is shill bidding happening, then you have given them the ammo IMO to make you pay top dollar.

Re: Shill Bidding

4channel — Mon, 26 Nov 2018 06:22:12 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I am bidding on this item at the moment (292825479835) and I have a nasty feeling someone is shill bidding, it might just be my imagination because over 10+ other bids I was bidding on (from China) the guy was blatantly doing just that, but I caught him out and reported him to Ebay.

So maybe I'm just imagining things with this one but I do find it strange that a person with absolutely "0" feedback is suddenly bidding on an expensive item, yet he has not one bid on anything else anywhere.

I am winning at the moment but if I see this guy again bidding on this item I am in two minds whether I should contact the seller and warn him if he is shill bidding he will be reported but also I really do not want to let this item go but I don't want to be overcharged for something I could have gotten cheaper.

Any advice is appreciated.

Some sellers create sock-puppet accounts and then bid in their own auctions to bump it up. The heavy hitting will be evident in the last 5 mins.

Re: Shill Bidding

davewil1964 — Mon, 26 Nov 2018 07:44:14 GMT

The heavy hitting would normally happen in the last few seconds. That is when astute buyers place their bids, or have them go live if using a sniping service.

Nothing sinister or underhanded about it. Just PRUDENT bidding in order to maximise their chances of winning the item. It also, as opposed to nibble bidding, reduces the chances of the seller shilling. Which is not necessarily the case in this instance.

Re: Shill Bidding

brerrabbit585 — Mon, 26 Nov 2018 23:04:01 GMT

You're leaving yourself wide open to having someone (not the seller) run you up just for the fun of it. Anyone can see that you've got 11 bids above the current top bid and they can safely put a few bids in without any fear of becoming the top bidder. You might scare the odd other bidder off but they're more likely to be tempted to have a bit of fun and run you up out of spite.

The zero feedback bidder is behaving exactly how you'd expect a newbie to, but with your feedback you should know better by now.

Re: Shill Bidding

imastawka — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 00:43:15 GMT

I also notice that the pics are stock photos and not pics of the actual item.

Not really allowed. You can use a stock photo, but a photo of the actual item for sale

is supposed to be shown. Buyers must know what they are actually buying.

I'll be watching this auction with interest.

Re: Shill Bidding

padi*0409 — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 01:08:20 GMT

@brerrabbit585 wrote:
You're leaving yourself wide open to having someone (not the seller) run you up just for the fun of it. Anyone can see that you've got 11 bids above the current top bid and they can safely put a few bids in without any fear of becoming the top bidder. You might scare the odd other bidder off but they're more likely to be tempted to have a bit of fun and run you up out of spite.

Completely agree brer, even when I was a newbie to eBay I wouldn't bid like that - way too easy for other bidders to raise the auction bids. For auctions bidding in the last 30seconds is the only way to go.

Did you see the postage on it though ? Admittedly "express" and I'm in rural WA but even so..................

Re: Shill Bidding

imastawka — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 01:11:16 GMT

Woah....missed that bit!

$125.50 from Sydney to Melbourne?

Re: Shill Bidding

imastawka — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 01:22:07 GMT

Seller must be excited................there's 11 watchers, lol

Re: Shill Bidding

padi*0409 — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 01:27:22 GMT

Hahaha Stawks, and I'm not even in the "express zone" - even the "standard" AP postage is $139.85, that for an item that's 360mm x 430mm x 760mm and 5.5 Kgs....................

There's other listings of these cheaper on BIN's than the auction is now - with a much lower postage cost.

Tears to follow I suspect.

Re: Shill Bidding

imastawka — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 01:42:50 GMT

Yeah, I also noticed the cheaper ones available.

I expect the OP is thinking NIB - but the listing doesn't show the actual item's condition.

Re: Shill Bidding

brerrabbit585 — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 02:24:45 GMT

I noticed the postage straight away but assumed it must have been really heavy or really large.

Years ago I had a bit of fun with someone who kept outbidding me and when I saw they had several bids above mine on several items from the one seller I deliberately put a couple more bids in just to run them up. It was just tooooo tempting. It's not shill bidding if it's not the owner or anyone associated with them. I would have paid if I'd won but I knew I wouldn't.

Very occasionally I might have two or more bids above everyone else but only when I can't be there at the end (I've never used a sniping service) and when I decided I really would like to bid a bit higher.

Re: Shill Bidding

imastawka — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 02:32:55 GMT

Just between you, me and the doorpost, I've been peeved at being outbid on something

and nibble-bid my opponent up, so they paid more too.

And, no, that's not shill bidding.

And I'm not touching this listing with a barge pole.

Re: Shill Bidding

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 02:47:55 GMT

I'm hoping it's the thingy in the photo and not just a photo of the thingy

Re: Shill Bidding

imastawka — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 03:04:41 GMT

It is the thing in the photo - not just a photo of the thingy.

Do you mean a life sized real thingy turning up on the doorstep?

For lurkers, it's this thingy -

Re: Shill Bidding

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 03:08:53 GMT

A fiendish thingy (as George would say)

Re: Shill Bidding

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 15:37:06 GMT

It might seem strange to you but that is how I bid, I have done it this way for 14 years in here and I have gotten heaps of bargins from doing it like that.

Everyone is different, you might like to auto bid or wait to the last minute to grab it, and I have tried that way to but that doesn't work for me.

I check every item I am bidding on, I know the price trends of the items I am bidding on and I know just how much I am will to pay for it, and it might look like a lot of bids to you but they are only ever going up by small denominations.

I have already won one item off this person a little while ago and I got that cheap to by doing the same type of bidding and when I pick it up today I will be having a civil conversation with the seller about the "0" feedback person, and if he gets offended by it and retracts my bids then so be it.

I might want the item but it's not kill me if I don't get it, there are plenty more items on Ebay to buy.....and I just saw some now :D.

Someone before said maybe he just joined so he could bid on this item...yeh, maybe he did that, and maybe I've won Gold in the last 3 Olympics. 😛

That bidder still hasn't bid on anything else on Ebay, not a paper clip, nothing.

But we will see what happens....3 days to go.....maybe he'll buy that paper clip and prove me wrong, who knows.

Re: Shill Bidding

imastawka — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 21:36:58 GMT

But there's a cheaper one available and it's a BIN with freepost.

You haven't seen this actual item, only stock photos.

And then there's horrrendous postage on top of it all.

And I don't see how letting everyone nibble bid you to your max is getting items cheaply.

The idea is to not let anyone know you're interested until the last dying seconds.

(Or minutes if you don't trust your server's speed)