eBay -- How To Detect Shill Bidding?

oddboy · Jan 13, 2017

WatchWarlock
Well that is the smart thing to do. But sometimes, the adrenaline rush kicks in and you're emotionally attached to a piece. When you find something you've looked long and hard for, sometimes that one extra bid is well worth it. Just have to be judicious on which pieces justify an "overpay."

As a buyer, I actually prefer the anonymity. I can already imagine how one can track the winning bidder of a high value item, figure out their address, and so on...

Sniping is still the way to go. Put in your max bid and then try to forget about it... rather than watch the auction and try to guess, just snipe with your best bid. You could put a $5000 snipe on a watch you think will close at $2000 if you really want it, and that's what you'd pay for it.

I believe they're call it 'going Ashley' on an auction because of a member here.

slique12 · Apr 10, 2017

Curious if anyone has thoughts on the bidding action from an auction I won today. In particular, I'm wondering if the bids from n*** (97) were legit or shills.

michael22 · Apr 10, 2017

You bid after the underbidder?
It looks like an honest auction to me.

slique12 · Apr 10, 2017

I'm not entirely sure why but it isn't showing my other bid. I bid twice in the last 10 seconds of the auction. What is a bit strange is that the seller sent me a message two hours after the auction ended saying they had received a notice that I wanted to cancel the deal, and they were ok with the cancellation.

M.C.B1974 · Apr 10, 2017

I believe that sometimes it's shill bidding and sometimes it's deadbeat bidders. I have sold items up tp 3-4 times before getting a buyer to actually pay.
I also have noticed when I do a items sold search that many items have been relisted.... not sure if that is people bidding and not paying or sellers trying to make their items appear to be worth more then fair market value due to current sales of these items.
I usually only place a true bid at the last 2 seconds of the auction, if I get outbid then someone knew more or wanted it more, If I win then great.

Bumper · Apr 10, 2017

n*** (97) bid once @ $807.17. Nothing wrong with that.

Foo2rama · Apr 10, 2017

looks like a sniping program going to its max, trying to throw off another sniper. Hence the odd amount.

khanmu · Apr 10, 2017

M.C.B1974
I believe that sometimes it's shill bidding and sometimes it's deadbeat bidders. I have sold items up tp 3-4 times before getting a buyer to actually pay.
I also have noticed when I do a items sold search that many items have been relisted.... not sure if that is people bidding and not paying or sellers trying to make their items appear to be worth more then fair market value due to current sales of these items.
I usually only place a true bid at the last 2 seconds of the auction, if I get outbid then someone knew more or wanted it more, If I win then great.

Recently I've had an increasing number of buyers not pay after winning - including for a flightmaster, a bracelet and a bezel. I assume it's because I'm now using eBay GSP and they didnt check the shipping costs...I always start with a low start and no reserve, but then I'm old fashioned....

michael22 · Apr 10, 2017

slique12
I'm not entirely sure why but it isn't showing my other bid. I bid twice in the last 10 seconds of the auction. What is a bit strange is that the seller sent me a message two hours after the auction ended saying they had received a notice that I wanted to cancel the deal, and they were ok with the cancellation.

Your second bid may not have made it through the system in time.
I've no idea what the seller is thinking, though. Maybe they had a buyer elsewhere willing to pay more.

slique12 · Apr 10, 2017

Actually come to think of it I think it was my first bid which didn't make it in the system. By the time I entered $750 (which was my first bid), user n*** (97) had already raised the bid to $760 with 5 seconds to go. My final bid of $810 seemed to have gone through literally in the last second before auction close. The only reason I was a bit wary was because the user n*** (97) had made only 1 bid in the entire month and that was on this item. I'm not sure about the reasons why the seller offered to cancel the deal though - maybe they thought they could get more money if they ran the auction again, or maybe they suddenly received an offer higher than the final price.

Edward53 · Apr 11, 2017

n***(97) had a snipe set up and bid at his computer as well just in case the sniping SW didn't work, which does very occasionally happen. At some point he realised he was prepared to pay more than his snipe and bid accordingly. Nothing suspicious there. A miracle your bid made it through in the final second.

eBay -- How To Detect Shill Bidding?

oddboy

slique12

michael22

slique12

M.C.B1974

Bumper

Foo2rama

khanmu

michael22

slique12

Edward53

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