• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Shill Alert2....

Started by dm226,

469 posts in this topic

dm226

dm226

Posted
Posted

Hi Everyone,

 

I am a very rare poster who enjoys reading what others have to offer here (especially those without the graemlins!). One of the things I really appreciate are those alerts that give people a heads up re: certain auctions on ebay. However, I did want to point out something I found "fishy" with an ebay auction that was put on by a prominent member of these boards. I have met this board member before in person and he has a unique last name. I was interested in one of his auctions, which was for a lower-grade golden age book. I was going to bid, but was intrigued/troubled by the fact that a low-feedback bidder with the same last name as the seller (whose ebay name is not related to his last name) had put in several bids on the book. To make a long story short, I did not bid on the book, but after seeing the post regarding the shill bidder today, I thought I would go back and search for the item as a completed auction. The book ended up selling to another legit dealer, for a reasonable price, but I was shocked to see that there was no evidence of the bidder (with the same last name) in the list of bidders!!

 

I have bought many items on ebay, but have never retracted a bid before, so I am not sure if there is a "paper trail" so to speak. If one could retract his/her bids, and do so after one has encouraged other bidders to increase their own bids, couldn't this become a very discrete way to shill under the radar??

Link to comment
Share on other sites
greggy

greggy

Posted
Posted
So Mr.Detective tell us who it is! sumo.gif It's obvious you have nothing to lose since you don't post on here much......give us a hint at least........ popcorn.gif

 

yeah....the suspense is killing me sleeping.gif

confused-smiley-013.gif
Link to comment
Share on other sites
dm226

dm226

Posted
  • Author
Posted

It was not really my intent to "out" anyone or to provide anyone with any excitement (or in some cases, a lack thereof) with some name calling. Although I suppose I don't having anything to lose by naming names (as I don't have any presence here), my real intent was to inquire more about the issue of being able to shill and then make evidence of this disappear. As someone who buys on ebay, this would completely undermine my faith in the bidding process, especially when it is being practiced by "legit" dealers with feedback in the thousands. After reading the other shill alert post yesterday, I felt I should inquire more about the bidding process.

 

In addition, I am also reluctant to name names due to the presence this seller has on these boards and the lack that I have. Also, because there is no evidence of the shill bids anymore in the concluded auction's history, it would simply be an issue of his word against mine which, given my few posts here and his presence, would result in an obvious outcome. Because the seller is someone here with posts in the thousands, and with me averaging a couple of posts a month, I can see how this could easily turn into a [#@$%!!!] match.

 

More importantly, like everyone else, and with the help of some of the discussions that take place on boards such as this, I have become a bit more sophisticated in identifying problems with auctions on ebay. However, if one could make a brief appearance in the bidding process, shilling and then disappearing, no one would be the wiser unless, as in my own case, I recognized something odd about the bidder. Addressing this issue was the intent of my original post...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jeffreykli

Jeffreykli

Posted
Posted
Hi Everyone,

 

I am a very rare poster who enjoys reading what others have to offer here (especially those without the graemlins!). One of the things I really appreciate are those alerts that give people a heads up re: certain auctions on ebay. However, I did want to point out something I found "fishy" with an ebay auction that was put on by a prominent member of these boards. I have met this board member before in person and he has a unique last name. I was interested in one of his auctions, which was for a lower-grade golden age book. I was going to bid, but was intrigued/troubled by the fact that a low-feedback bidder with the same last name as the seller (whose ebay name is not related to his last name) had put in several bids on the book. To make a long story short, I did not bid on the book, but after seeing the post regarding the shill bidder today, I thought I would go back and search for the item as a completed auction. The book ended up selling to another legit dealer, for a reasonable price, but I was shocked to see that there was no evidence of the bidder (with the same last name) in the list of bidders!!

 

I have bought many items on ebay, but have never retracted a bid before, so I am not sure if there is a "paper trail" so to speak. If one could retract his/her bids, and do so after one has encouraged other bidders to increase their own bids, couldn't this become a very discrete way to shill under the radar??

 

So in the completed auction's bid history, there's nothing to indicate that any bids were retracted? I recently made a mistake bid on an auction and retracted my bid. My retracted bid still remains on the completed auction bid history. confused-smiley-013.gif

 

Maybe the bidder put the shill account (if it was a shill account) on his blocked bidder list after the bids were placed. I'm not sure if that will just cancel the bids without the paper trail.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Aces

Aces

Posted
Posted
Hi Everyone,

 

I am a very rare poster who enjoys reading what others have to offer here (especially those without the graemlins!). One of the things I really appreciate are those alerts that give people a heads up re: certain auctions on ebay. However, I did want to point out something I found "fishy" with an ebay auction that was put on by a prominent member of these boards. I have met this board member before in person and he has a unique last name. I was interested in one of his auctions, which was for a lower-grade golden age book. I was going to bid, but was intrigued/troubled by the fact that a low-feedback bidder with the same last name as the seller (whose ebay name is not related to his last name) had put in several bids on the book. To make a long story short, I did not bid on the book, but after seeing the post regarding the shill bidder today, I thought I would go back and search for the item as a completed auction. The book ended up selling to another legit dealer, for a reasonable price, but I was shocked to see that there was no evidence of the bidder (with the same last name) in the list of bidders!!

 

I have bought many items on ebay, but have never retracted a bid before, so I am not sure if there is a "paper trail" so to speak. If one could retract his/her bids, and do so after one has encouraged other bidders to increase their own bids, couldn't this become a very discrete way to shill under the radar??

 

So in the completed auction's bid history, there's nothing to indicate that any bids were retracted? I recently made a mistake bid on an auction and retracted my bid. My retracted bid still remains on the completed auction bid history. confused-smiley-013.gif

 

Maybe the bidder put the shill account (if it was a shill account) on his blocked bidder list after the bids were placed. I'm not sure if that will just cancel the bids without the paper trail.

 

Yeah. They should be in the retracted bids area.

Don't know about blocked bidders though. 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dm226

dm226

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks for the input - I went back to try and find the auction again, to see if there were any retracted bids, but then things got even more confusing. The seller has actually sold the same book twice in the past three months - once to a dealer on Feb 1, and then again on April 4 to the bidder with the same last name as the seller. When I went back to find the auction the first time I went to the seller's feedback and found the first auction (which did not have any bids from the bidder with the same last name), but was actually won by the other dealer. This dealer left feedback which would make it appear as though the transaction was completed. However this was a different auction from the one that I saw later on (it never occurred to look for the same item auctioned twice by the same dealer). What makes this weird is that the winning bidder, who left feedback, was another dealer, and yet the same original seller then resold the comic again, this time to the bidder with the same last name (who had 6 of the total 13 bids on the item).

 

What I don't understand is that it would make more sense for the item to be won by the shill bidder on the FIRST auction, and then sell to a legitimate buyer the second time. In this case, the item was first won by another 'legit' ebayer who left feedback, and then resold to someone with the same last name. Anyway, this makes less sense that in did the first time, although I am glad that it appears that one can't hide shill bids!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jeffreykli

Jeffreykli

Posted
Posted

What may have happened, at least for the first auction, is that the auction was completed, but the buyer wasn't satisfied with the book and returned it to the seller. Then, the seller listed it again for sale. Given the time frame between Feb 1 and April 4, that's plenty of time for the book to be sent out, the buyer to receive it but complain about condition, or something else, and send the book back for a refund.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tomega

Tomega

Posted
Posted

What is the point of your posts? This does absolutely nothing to help a community that polices itself. Next just post a link to the auctions you are referring to with no comments about shilling - just ask if there is something wrong with the auctions. Otherwise, do not bother posting things like this - it is a waste of time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
Go to topic listing