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The Shiller Speaks

Started by Joe Kim,

1,120 posts in this topic

Logan510

Logan510

Posted
Posted
I love these shilling threads because they reveal which forum members have a core honesty and which ones have a core dishonesty.

 

You can read between the lines and draw pretty reliable conclusions about the people who repeat the mantra "don't bid more than you're willing to pay" as a sort of roundabout defense of shilling. It slowly but surely becomes evident that the people making this argument reflexively are sympathetic to the practice of shilling and should not be trusted.

 

"Don't bid more than you're willing to pay" is true as a stand-alone statement, but it has absolutely nothing to do with whether the practice of shilling is wrong.

This

Any honest seller has a gut level response to shilling and would never say someone was butthurt over it IMO.

 

I don't agree 100%. You can be an honest seller who only cares about $$$ and not your fellow humans.

Let me amend that-

Any non sociopath honest seller has a gut level response to shilling.

 

lol

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kav

kav

Posted
Posted

You're doing it wrong :grin:

lol Yep!

I wait till 3 sec before auctions ends-I don't want to use a sniping program what do you suggest?

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Logan510

Logan510

Posted
Posted
How about this? Shilling is wrong. Period.

(Can't read between the lines there . . . ) lol

 

 

Maybe a poll is called for here :D

Suck it, loser.

 

This exchange has made me uncomfortable.

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bcphillips119

bcphillips119

Posted
Posted

You're doing it wrong :grin:

lol Yep!

I wait till 3 sec before auctions ends-I don't want to use a sniping program what do you suggest?

 

Same, I just wait seconds before the auction ends. I do it during live silent auctions too.

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Logan510

Logan510

Posted
Posted

You're doing it wrong :grin:

lol Yep!

I wait till 3 sec before auctions ends-I don't want to use a sniping program what do you suggest?

 

So you snipe...but don't use a snipe program?

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Logan510

Logan510

Posted
Posted
The only time I get a bargain on a snipe is if there are no other bidders. (shrug)

 

I've gotten what I would consider quite a few bargains since I've started sniping (shrug)

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Logan510

Logan510

Posted
Posted
Yeah I manually snipe I'm old school

 

 

Sniping is also convenient for me as I don't always have time to be in front of the computer when an auction is ending.

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Dr. Balls

Dr. Balls

Posted
Posted
The only time I get a bargain on a snipe is if there are no other bidders. (shrug)

 

That's 'cause all you snipe is garbage . . . :baiting::insane:

 

lol

 

I have been focusing on 90s stuff...

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Logan510

Logan510

Posted
Posted
The only time I get a bargain on a snipe is if there are no other bidders. (shrug)

 

That's 'cause all you snipe is garbage . . . :baiting::insane:

 

lol

 

I have been focusing on 90s stuff...

 

 

Are you the guy who sniped 100 issues of Tribe #1? :mad:

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Dr. Balls

Dr. Balls

Posted
Posted
The only time I get a bargain on a snipe is if there are no other bidders. (shrug)

 

That's 'cause all you snipe is garbage . . . :baiting::insane:

 

lol

 

I have been focusing on 90s stuff...

 

 

Are you the guy who sniped 100 issues of Tribe #1? :mad:

 

lol

 

That was not me. I've already got a nice one. But beware, I'm on the hunt for the alternate Shaman's Tears #1.

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Doohickamabob

Doohickamabob

Posted
Posted
I love these shilling threads because they reveal which forum members have a core honesty and which ones have a core dishonesty.

 

You can read between the lines and draw pretty reliable conclusions about the people who repeat the mantra "don't bid more than you're willing to pay" as a sort of roundabout defense of shilling. It slowly but surely becomes evident that the people making this argument reflexively are sympathetic to the practice of shilling and should not be trusted.

 

"Don't bid more than you're willing to pay" is true as a stand-alone statement, but it has absolutely nothing to do with whether the practice of shilling is wrong.

 

I don't get your math. I don't bid more than I'm willing to pay ( normally ) and I don't defend shilling.

When people have a discussion about the practice of shilling, and somebody chimes in with, "I don't see what the big deal is. As long as you never bid more than you're willing to pay, it isn't going to affect you much anyway," then you can be sure that the person saying this is ethically challenged.

 

It's sort of like if people were talking about whether it's wrong to steal a car when the owner accidentally left the car keys inside the car. If a person's response to this question isn't "Yes, it's wrong -- even if the owner of the car is a nitwit for leaving the keys in the car" but instead they keep saying, "I don't see the problem. As long as you never leave your car keys in your car, it won't affect you anyway," then there is something amiss with that person's ability to handle a basic ethics question. (Yes, I realize this isn't a perfect example, but it's close enough.)

 

A person who was 100% clear on the ethics of the matter wouldn't waste time backhandedly victim-blaming. The backhanded "blame the victim" response is a giveaway that the person is sympathetic to the unethical practice.

 

If you're bidding on an auction and there are no other legitimate bidders who bid higher than you do, then you absolutely deserve to win the item at the price of the highest legitimate bid.

 

If you bid on an auction and you're outbid by a shill (an illegitimate bidder who has no genuine interest in winning the item for his own), and then you turn around and outbid the shill, then sure, you bid as much as you were willing to pay. But you were robbed of the amount of money over the highest legitimate bid.

 

This is obvious to anybody who has a core morality and ethics. Anybody who says otherwise lacks a core morality and ethics and should not be trusted.

 

In summary:

 

You see a comic at auction, and you decide you want to win it. You bid $100. Nobody outbids you. Then a shill comes along and bids $199. So you bid $200 and you win the auction.

 

The seller just stole $100 from your pocket.

 

"Don't bid more than you're willing to pay" has nothing to do with it. This concept has absolutely no bearing -- none whatsoever -- on the fact that you were just ripped off for $100.

 

Without a shill you would have paid $100. With a shill you paid $200. Simple math: The practice of shilling ended with you paying more than you would have paid in a legitimate auction.

 

I'll say it one more time: Anybody who doesn't understand this, or who responds reflexively with "But you bid what you were willing to pay! What's the problem?" has no core ethics/morality and should not be trusted.

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