Shill Bidding - inflating your own auction bids

[craftwizard23]

the plain fact here i am trying to state is..
ebid promote ebayers to follow you over..!
i did that..and cos she bidded on my items we both got closed down because they think that is a second account i presume....!
thats what they told me..but i have relisted all 143 auctions only to know now..she cannot re-bid on my stuff as she will be shill bidding...what a joke..
she lives 200 miles away from me..and also i found out too...i woz using her comp late last night to make that bid...lmao..
jokers..!!
Meebo1..i aint going no-where..i want this site to belike my old ebay account..regular sales every day.!!
whatever way it has to be dun..

[JanetB]

Considering we live miles n miles away from each other...
they said ...what is my relationship to the buyer..i said nothing..she is just a freind that followed me from ebay to here..thats it..!!

IMO that was the trigger for the confusion.

Is this person your friend or very good repeat customer?

You have to decide.

[craftwizard23]

lmao @ Jeweleffects......ok
she was a buyer a long time ago....but turned into a long distance sort of freind..lol
not a freind that you would see..have tea etc
have to be perfect now..lol..its apolite way to call someone a freind..cos they return soo many times....


oh sod it..im back..and sorted..lol
thanks all..

[somersethedge]

I can see both sides of the coin...

I know what you mean by calling a very good customer a "friend" I have a few like that... in fact one is a producer of postcards who I buy in bulk from when we meet up person to person, but at the same time he is also a customer of mine.

but at the same time there is so much shill bidding done "elsewhere" that you can not blame eBid being "careful"

[craftwizard23]

no i agree
but they still make ya feel bad...lol

[JanetB]

but at the same time there is so much shill bidding done "elsewhere" that you can not blame eBid being "careful"

I have to agree with that. Long long time ago when I was bidding on an item "over yonder", after a few bids I made, I noticed a pattern and realized I was bidding against a 'shiller' and contacted 'over yonder' about it. Everything was cancelled and I was 'let go' (thank goodness).

[marschenegger]

Maybe eBid realizes that a lot of people signing up here have been members of fleabay in the past, and those people are used to random suspensions and frozen PayPal accounts. Maybe it's eBid's way of making them feel welcome!

But seriously, shill bidding is nearly impossible to diagnose. You can't tell me that every bidder who bids early and often is a shill. Having said that, anyone complaining about shill bidding to the site admins may get a knee-jerk reaction from them (i.e. they may suspend a seller based on an allegation and thus force the seller to be proactive in applying for reinstatement). After your account is reinstated, I wouldn't worry too much. Just start a dialogue with the admins by contacting them through the Help section. Contrary to the nasty verbage in the FAQ section, they are quite open to receiving messages from members and they are not nearly as back-logged as they say. Explain the situation to them. Tell them that the buyer is a good repeat customer, and you could always sell items to that person OFF eBid.

[craftwizard23]

well i did do thatand explained to the max..
but they have told them NOT TO BUY TALK or ANY COMMUNICATION WHATSOEVER with me..!!
& yes...She has been a retirning customer for a long time now and also a follower from ebay too.
how would that make anyone feel..!?

but i am continuing as best i can..or untilmyAuctions finish..
Regards

[JaBek1]

Shilling can occur on any auction site or live auction for that matter. I believe that limiting the number of accounts a person can have may cut down the odds of it going unnoticed very long.

While I'm not familiar with the laws governing sales by auction in other countries, in the United States shilling is a felony on most, if not all, fifty states. And as with any serious crime, there are those that will work hard to find ways to commit the offense. Just as there is a criminal element that spends most of its time seeking ways to scam the unwary out of their money or goods.

I would, however, caution against bringing suspicions about particular sellers or bidders to the forum as a published statement or accusation could not only harm an innocent party, but also wind up being actionable. Better to bring a suspicion to supports attention for investigation rather airing a suspicion here and turn out to be wrong.

[JaBek1]

Frankly, I see nothing suspicious about customers becoming friends with others that they do business with. I have quite a few people that attend auctions that I count as friends. In fact, there are some here utilizing this forum that I count among my friends on Facebook and elsewhere. I have no problem with them buying from me or me from them. Of course, I'd be upset if one of them would attempt to shill one of my auctions or expect me to it on one of theirs.

Although it is legal in my state for a seller to bid on their own goods being sold at auction, provided that the fact that they are is announced to the other bidders prior to beginning the sale, I usually advise my clients against it. Better that they remove items they want from the sale before it goes under the hammer. Besides, why would they want to pay my commission & buyer's premium to buy goods they already own?

I have seen some family squabbles where heirs insisted that a family member buy an item from the estate. I usually suggest they work something out amongst themselves.