posted on October 27, 2000 04:22:02 AM
I was wondering how people recognize if an auction has shill bidding going on?
Since eBay changed the look of their Bid History, it makes it much simpler. I am writing an article about the topic and would love some tips from experienced eBayers, such as...
How do I look at the Bid History and recognize patterns that might indicate shilling?
Do I look at bidders' feedback and what does that tell me?
How deep do I have to dig to establish a pattern of shill bidding.
posted on October 27, 2000 11:40:10 AM
Unless the shill bidder is extrordinarily stupid, you will not get hard evidence.
However, we're not in a court of law. We're in real life, where one dodges scams.
The most powerful evidence of (more correctly, "correlation with" ) shill bidding is a canceled bid which exposes another bidders limit.
The best defense against shill bidding is to snipe.
In the ranking of scams, not all shill bids are equal. At one time eBay allowed seller to bid once on a non-reserve item. eBay changed this rule because it created tension and was no doubt misused; however, as intended, it did not represent a scam. Some sellers still put in one bid on a non-reserve item which has not met their price expectations. Very much against the rules, but it's difficult to stop or even identify.
Note that shill really crosses the line into a scam when it is used to achieve one of two goals:
-artificial interest. Bidders and bids, none real, to make the price look supported by real people.
-exposure of limit, or "pushing to limit".
Most sellers who routinely shill use accounts with zero feedback. A strong indication of a shill bidding account is an account which has won auctions, but never received any feedback. An even stronger indication (but very stupid) is an account which has received feedback from only this seller before.
If you suspect shilling is going on, avoid the auction. If you're the current high bidder, cancel your bid immediately, with the explanation "irregular bidding pattern".
If the auction has ended with you the winner, particularly if the auction was "dropped" on you via a cancelled bid, simply refuse to complete the transaction.
Above all, keep in mind, you are never obligated by honor to proceed into what looks to be a scam.
