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Who Shills?

Started by Arkham,

70 posts in this topic

Arkham

Arkham

Posted
Posted

Here's a classic shiller.

 

You bid, you're outbid within a minute. Sale goes to the shill, item is relisted within an hour or so. You bid, you're outbid again by a "0" rep eBayer within a few minutes.

 

gow5h6a.png

 

So, fess up, who here shills? And why do you shill rather than simply start the bidding at your minimum price point?

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DoctorWyoming

DoctorWyoming

Posted
Posted

 

And why do you shill rather than simply start the bidding at your minimum price point?

 

Well, if you think about it, the only reason shill bidders bother you is because they prevent you from buying the book at a cheap price, i.e. at a price that was never really being offered in the first place.

 

 

Set a realistic price and keep to it, then no shill bidder can ever 'get' you.

 

 

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Bill1

Bill1

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Posted

Go big or stay home. I watch people bid up a few dollars at a time, let them take the lead, and then in the last 10 seconds add $20 or $30 to my bid. It overtakes them, and their $2 increments don't have time to catch me. I don't get why so many people bid in such small increments, but I will continue enjoy winning the one's I want. If I don't really want it bad, I place one bid and no more-- then either I win or don't. I also do this for the poor planning sellers who's auctions end at 2 AM-- who stays up to watch how that goes?

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Arkham

Arkham

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And why do you shill rather than simply start the bidding at your minimum price point?

 

Well, if you think about it, the only reason shill bidders bother you is because they prevent you from buying the book at a cheap price, i.e. at a price that was never really being offered in the first place.

 

Set a realistic price and keep to it, then no shill bidder can ever 'get' you.

 

No mate, you're way off. Firstly, of course the price was offered in the first place - if the starting bid is $50 with no reserve - then a bid of $50, with no competition, will win the auction. That's the very definition of an auction; and that's the risk that comes with starting an auction with a low starting price and no reserve.

 

If the seller wants to guarantee a higher price, then they should simply either set a reserve, or start the bid at a higher price point or go 100% BIN. -- If you think about it, that is the only way that a low price is not on offer with an auction.

 

For the record, I was watching this auction. I bid at the starting bid point and didn't bid again, I often do this as I know I'll be outbid, but it will remind me to keep an eye on the auction.... So the shill didn't do me out of the sale, they did someone else out of it - who I think would be quite within their rights to be pissed off.

 

Frankly, I think it's pretty poor sport.

 

Go big or stay home. I watch people bid up a few dollars at a time, let them take the lead, and then in the last 10 seconds add $20 or $30 to my bid. It overtakes them, and their $2 increments don't have time to catch me. I don't get why so many people bid in such small increments, but I will continue enjoy winning the one's I want. If I don't really want it bad, I place one bid and no more-- then either I win or don't. I also do this for the poor planning sellers who's auctions end at 2 AM-- who stays up to watch how that goes?

 

Absolutely. Couldn't agree more.

 

 

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tinynascarfan-migration

tinynascarfan-migration

Posted
Posted

I start all my ebay auctions at .99 with no reserve, and last week somebody got a hellstorm prince of lies slabbed 9.8 for 7 bucks, a punisher 47 9.8 for under 5 bucks etc. its the risk you take when selling them like that, but those are the sellers i look for also, those that start an auction low and has no reserve, if i see a shill bidder, i wont be ordering from them EVER.

 

2c

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DoctorWyoming

DoctorWyoming

Posted
Posted

And why do you shill rather than simply start the bidding at your minimum price point?

 

Well, if you think about it, the only reason shill bidders bother you is because they prevent you from buying the book at a cheap price, i.e. at a price that was never really being offered in the first place.

 

Set a realistic price and keep to it, then no shill bidder can ever 'get' you.

 

No mate, you're way off. Firstly, of course the price was offered in the first place - if the starting bid is $50 with no reserve - then a bid of $50, with no competition, will win the auction.

 

No, I'm spot on actually. If they have shill bidders, then they were NEVER going to let the book go at 50. That's the point here. The price was never realistic.

 

You can say that's unfair, but the reality is that even you agree that the price is low... after all, why complain about shill bidding?

 

That's precisely why I say: set a reasonable price, the one you are willing to pay. If they take that bid, congrats. If not, they were never going to sell the book to you in the first place.

 

Shill bidding only bothers people who actually expect someone to sell a book at a low, low price.

 

Think about it

 

 

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