Is this shilling? Or just something that happens?

[Doohickamabob]

I am curious to hear some opinions about how to identify eBay shilling versus situations where there are just a lot of new, low-feedback, or low-activity accounts bidding on a particular auction.

 

Here is a recent example of an auction I was watching, and considering bidding on. I noticed some questionable looking bids and decided not to participate. Then, at the end, two different low-feedback bidders came in and bid. Both have 100% activity with the seller.

 

I am not going to name the seller. I just want to know whether people think this looks like shilling? I will post an image of the bidder page that shows what I am talking about. (I copied and pasted the bidding activity ratio next to each masked bidder name.)

[HarveySwick]

[brendanb438]

Before I would have leaned towards shill. Now I am not so sure. My last round of raw WD books I sold on eBay I had a couple new accounts do something similar as pictured on a bunch of my auctions. One of the accounts won a couple lots and paid right away and the other account didn't win anything but made things look a bit shady.

[Tony S]

Purpose of most shills is to run up the price, not win items.

 

If you see the item relisted tomorrow, odds have increased - but it is not proof - of shilling. If the item is never relisted, odds are high it sold.

 

There is nothing suspicious about a buyer with feedback feedback over 10 bidding, even if the activity shows that the seller in question is the only one with items they are bidding on. The winning buyer has a feedback score of 53. That could mean they have been around a while but don't bid/buy a lot of items.

 

Like someone else mentioned, I dislike it when zero feedback buyers bid - especially bid aggressively - in auctions that I run. They are substantially less likely to pay if they win and they make your auction look questionable. eBay doesn't have any way of blocking zero feedback buyers.

 

On the other hand, I find that buyers with feedback over 10 and under a few hundred are oftentimes the quickest to pay and leave feedback. They are looking to establish a good track record.

[Conan_Aficionado]

Sometimes I'll follow a sale trough and see if feedback is left.

[Filter81]

I am curious to hear some opinions about how to identify eBay shilling versus situations where there are just a lot of new, low-feedback, or low-activity accounts bidding on a particular auction.

 

Here is a recent example of an auction I was watching, and considering bidding on. I noticed some questionable looking bids and decided not to participate. Then, at the end, two different low-feedback bidders came in and bid. Both have 100% activity with the seller.

 

I am not going to name the seller. I just want to know whether people think this looks like shilling? I will post an image of the bidder page that shows what I am talking about. (I copied and pasted the bidding activity ratio next to each masked bidder name.)

 

Usually, I'll give the benefit of the doubt to the seller. As a seller on eBay myself, I can tell you there's nothing I hate more than seeing a zero feedback bidder in the running on a book at the end, but you can't control who bids.

 

The 100% bid history sounds bad, but doesn't give enough information to make an informed decision. (100% bid history could mean he bid on 1 book and 1 book only for the month)

 

The 773 feedback with 97% bid history though That's a lot of bids with one seller.

[jaybuck43]

Yea the 97% doesn't make sense. The only way for him to have gotten there is he would have had to done a minimum of 31 bids with 30 of them going to that seller. That is a LOT of bid.

[miraclemet]

I've seen cases with some of the big sellers (like sparkle city) where there are some buyers who ONLY bid on items from one seller. Why? I have no idea. Some mix of comfort with a big reputable seller and getting pulled to eBay by their strong advertising/promotion.

 

So this could be one of those cases...

[youmechooz]

I am curious to hear some opinions about how to identify eBay shilling versus situations where there are just a lot of new, low-feedback, or low-activity accounts bidding on a particular auction.

 

Here is a recent example of an auction I was watching, and considering bidding on. I noticed some questionable looking bids and decided not to participate. Then, at the end, two different low-feedback bidders came in and bid. Both have 100% activity with the seller.

 

I am not going to name the seller. I just want to know whether people think this looks like shilling? I will post an image of the bidder page that shows what I am talking about. (I copied and pasted the bidding activity ratio next to each masked bidder name.)

 

Usually, I'll give the benefit of the doubt to the seller. As a seller on eBay myself, I can tell you there's nothing I hate more than seeing a zero feedback bidder in the running on a book at the end, but you can't control who bids.

 

The 100% bid history sounds bad, but doesn't give enough information to make an informed decision. (100% bid history could mean he bid on 1 book and 1 book only for the month)

 

The 773 feedback with 97% bid history though That's a lot of bids with one seller.

+1 about the 1 book a month thing. If the "shiller" doesnt buy a lot of books, it could look like shilling with the 100% with the same seller bids but he might not have bought in a while. I get new buyers all the time and have been accused of shilling .99 books to $1.75. Nothing most sellers hate more is a shill, they never pay and you have to wait another week or whatever to sell it to someone who will pay.

[rodan57]

If you really want the book, bid as normal.

 

Whether you win or lose, follow up on the book and feedback to confirm or disprove your suspicions and share the results with us popcorn eaters.

 

 

p.s. It does look suspicious to me.

[Jaylam]

I have sold many collectible items (comics, baseball cards, gaming cards, knives, toys etc) on ebay for several years now. I've noticed lately a rash of new ebayers bidding on my stuff. Seems they do bid a little more aggressively, maybe getting caught up in the experience of trying to win. My main complaint is how few buyers are leaving feedback. I bust my butt to package well enough to withstand the abuse USPS puts on packages and to get them out the door within a day of the buyer paying.....but no feedback at all. Also, seems I have non-payers at the rate of about 2 a month (selling about 20-30 items a month). I have also sold at auction houses, but my main complaint there is having to wait months (5 months in some cases) before getting paid, so I have gravitated back toward ebay where I at least get paid within a day or two in most cases. Since someone mentioned Sparkle City, I don't know how, but they seem to get above average premium prices for their items, so much so, I just quit trying to buy (bid) from them at all.