RockMyAmadeus

Learn how to read. I know it's tough, but you can do it.

Incorrect. See my post directly above this one. And I would recommend keeping the implications of malfeasance to yourself.

I disagree entirely. I think, based on the public evidence, that the high bidder wanted the item, was well aware of the existence of the underbidder and, despite the incremental bidding that the underbidder made, still decided to bid again. The high bidder...m***h(1565)...bid on Jul 10 at about 5:30 PM PDT. If he/she looked at the bidding history, they would have seen that the underbidder had been involved in this listing long before...since Jul 4. They also would have seen that the underbidder had an already established pattern in this listing of driving up the bid, as demonstrated by the bidding activity on July 5 and 7. Bidder o***c(825) (which I think Carl Elvis said was him) outbid me on July 5 at 7:37 PM PDT, and then bidder c***m(28) STOPPED when he exposed o***c(825)'s high bid of $200. That's where the bidding stalled until July 10, when m***h(1565) placed a bid of $245.82. Then, c***m(28) came along and drove the bidding up again, and managed to expose...but not go over...the high bidder's max bid of $245.82. But the high bidder, who already had all of this information available to him/her, decided to bid again themselves, with a new high bid that could have been any amount over their old high bid of $245.82. We don't know, because no one else came along to bid. But, with nearly a day between their first bid and their second, and several hours after their initial high bid was exposed, the high bidder came back and bid again, because they wanted the item. The only way you can PROVE shill bidding...aside from a confession...is if a bidder bids some ridiculous amount to expose the high bid, retracts that, and then bids (either immediately or later) some amount just under the high bid. That's the only way to prove shill bidding. Even if a shill bidder wins an item and then backs out, that's still not proof of shill bidding, because there are legitimate reasons to win and back out, few though they may be. It's awful hard to prove intent. And, if a bidder ends up being the high bidder and actually completes the transaction, no shill bidding...by definition...has taken place by that bidder. Driving up the price...as annoying as that can be to other bidders...is not automatically shill bidding. It's simply a fact of live auctions, and happens every day, all around the globe.

I'm not accusing the seller of being involved with the shill bidder, I think suggesting a second chance or lower winning bid ($200 +) is laying the accusation of shilling solely on the guy who ran it up and retracted a bid in this auction, There were no bids retracted in this auction. Please point to the bid retraction you are seeing. Here's the bidding history for the listing: https://www.ebay.com/bfl/viewbids/163133148040?item=163133148040&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2565&rmvSB=true I didn't suggest you did, reread my post...quoted above for your convenience...and stop at the end. Also, please answer the question already asked, and asked again: where do you see a bid retraction in this listing...? No, it doesn't. Driving up the bid is not shill bidding, unless the buyer has no intention of buying the item if they win it. Since you don't know that to be the case here, and have no way of proving that on the face of it, you can't claim there was shill bidding here. *I* think that your comments have spoiled a legitimate deal for Kirk. Ok, so it doesn't bother him, but this careless tossing around of accusations of "shill bidding" will certainly hurt SOMEONE eventually, if it hasn't already. There are a LOT of "shill bidding" accusations around here lately, and I suspect that some of those accusations are unfounded, AND some of those accusations are made by people angry at being "bid up" legitimately. 1. What does "few purchases" mean? How many purchases do you think the second high bidder has made? 2. Feedback is not mandatory. You cannot tell how many purchases someone has made by their feedback. You can only tell how many people have left feedback. 3. You have no idea why those retractions were made. As I mentioned before, I have FIVE retractions in the last six months. Bid retractions are allowed on eBay, within a certain limited range of reasons. They are not indicative of shady behavior, in and of themselves (and no, I'm not saying that's what you said.) For example, at least two of my retractions were because I entered some stupid price...$1067 or something, when I meant to enter $10.67. Four retractions in 6 months, when the bidder has bid on 94 separate items in the last 30 days, is not, in itself, indicative of anything. I'm NOT suggesting this bidder isn't shady. I'm saying that you can't know, and therefore, saying this auction was shill bid is a not a legitimate conclusion to make at this time. One more time: unless the buyer has NO INTENTION of buying the item if they're the high bidder, there is no shill bidding, even if the second high bidder succeeds in exposing your high bid (as in this auction) but doesn't outbid you. Driving up the price is a function of live auctions: if one doesn't like one's bid being driven up, one ought to learn how to snipe, to lower the risk.

You...and others...have a fundamental misunderstanding of what shill bidding is, so much so that I'm considering starting a thread about it in Comics General. Shill bidding IS NOT someone driving up the price of an item because they can. Shill bidding is someone driving up the price, with no intention of buying the item if they win. This listing WAS NOT shill bid.

There seems to be quite a bit of misinformation floating around about what is, and what is not, shill bidding.

Not every bidder has nefarious motives. Excluding information because of suspicion is poor methodology.

My dog had a habit of chewing up books. Real books, not comics. Comics were kept out of his reach. Ugh. What a mess.

How about we just say "90s", "00s", and "10s"? We're covered that way until at least the 2070s, eh...?

You're asking the wrong people...

The cutoff has to be somewhere. Interestingly enough, Hulk #182 has a Dec, 1974 cover date. Missed it by THAT much....

Are we forgetting that CGC says Modern is anything from 1975 to Present?  Nope. But, as Lazyboy pointed out, that's a grading tier, not a designation. They aren't trying to convince anyone that 43 year old comic books are "modern" in that sense of the word.

I wouldn't put too much stock into it. I've bid on 302 items in the last 30 days, and I guarantee you, I neither won them all, nor did I shill bid any of them. In fact, here is an item that had a cancelled bid: https://www.ebay.com/bfl/viewbids/332689717817?item=332689717817&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2565 This was because the coin was not a 1913 key, but a standard 1911 coin. If you place a couple thousand bids in the last 6 months, I don't think 5 retractions is cause for concern. As far as seeing them...you may have to sign out. You get there by clicking the "scrambled" bidders, which takes you to the page which shows you that info. Since you're the seller, you may not be able to get there while signed in for this particular listing.

I'm the "3377" bidder, but you knew that. Where do you see a bid retraction in this listing, hmmmm? This isn't "garbage data." Bid retractions can happen for a number of legitimate reasons, not just to "expose" a high bid (which DID NOT happen in this listing.) Yes, I have 5 bid retractions in the last six months. Care to guess how many bids I've made, or how many listings I've bid on, in the last 6 months....? The second high bidder has made 151 bids, on 94 DIFFERENT ITEMS, in the last 30 days...but you see 4 retractions in SIX MONTHS, and you see red flags...? Do you know what "shill bidding" is...? Because, from your use here, it looks like you do not. Do you realize that you're accusing the seller of fraudulently manipulating his own auction...? Perhaps your moral compass is wound a bit too tight...

...and prayers.

A facilitator is the one who works directly with the Sig Series program to arrange and approve of signings, such as store signings, mail-aways, private signings at cons, and the like. A witness is merely the person who watches the books get signed, and makes sure the chain of custody is maintained until the books or other items get to CGC. What makes one facilitator better than another...? Sooooo many things. There are facilitators who don't take care of other people's books, who "hamfist" books, who double dip the system, who create unrealistic expectations on the part of creators, who are slow, lazy, and inept. There have even been rumors running around that certain facilitators have "exchanged" their books for customers' copies in better condition, though I don't think this has been proven yet. I wouldn't trust many facilitators as far as I could throw them. There are very few I would ever let get within 1000 yards of my books. Rich Henn I would trust with my books (and have.) I also trust Triston Pence. I'd trust Joel Elad with my life. Same with Brad Foster. Maybe a couple more. Not many. Your mileage will vary.

Yowza! $245, by a late entry! That's pretty amazing, all things considered. We'll see if this causes more copies to surface.

I'm aware of what eBay considers it...but since when is eBay the authority on the subject of comic books? And "Modern age is considered to be 1985-present"...according to whom...? For reference: in 1965, Wonder Woman #156 was published. That book referred to comics from "Comics' Golden Age"...books that were published 20-23 years prior to that issue. So, a 26 year old comic is not a "Modern."

PS. Youngblood #2 is 26 years old. It is not a "modern."

I'm RICH!!!