schill bidding

[jojac]

Might be coincidence but then why change your bidder name after you run up a couple of people. He's had 3 bidders name in 2 month's and that seems suspicious to me. I haven't been doing this that long and that's why I came to you guys with the question. So I guess when I see some one bid a few people up and quit then change his bidder name and start running other people up and then change his name again I should just consider it coincidence???
I guess I'm naive because I didn't think their would be a reason to change your name so often if you were playing by the rules.

[onlyalbert]

Might be coincidence but then why change your bidder name after you run up a couple of people. He's had 3 bidders name in 2 month's and that seems suspicious to me. I haven't been doing this that long and that's why I came to you guys with the question. So I guess when I see some one bid a few people up and quit then change his bidder name and start running other people up and then change his name again I should just consider it coincidence???
I guess I'm naive because I didn't think their would be a reason to change your name so often if you were playing by the rules.

What would be the point of changing the bidder name? If you never plan on winning anything why would you care about the name? It is strange and frustrating, but shilling goes on all the time and nothing ever seems to get done about it.

[jojac]

Nobody does anything about it because the people who could do something are making money from it. We're the only ones taking a hit so why would they care.

[jojac]

What would be the point of changing the bidder name? If you never plan on winning anything why would you care about the name? It is strange and frustrating, but shilling goes on all the time and nothing ever seems to get done about it.

The reason I feel he keeps changing his bidders name is because he doesn't want anyone to catch on to the fact that he's shill bidding.
If this week he bids you up on an auction item under the bidders name say "BOB" and then he changes his name to "Eric" after the auction closes then he can bid you up again two weeks from now on a separate auction item and you'll never know you're being run up by the same guy.
The Red Sox posted some new items for bid this past Friday and of course he changed his bidders name again and ran someone up.

[Mark17]

The situation you describe is a bummer. From a "what can I do about it" perspective the answer is simple: Only bid what you're willing to pay, and tell yourself that if you win the item, it will probably be at your max bid, so bid accordingly.

But, I know that's easy to say... There are a lot of times on ebay where I put a bid out there that's a little higher than I really want to pay, just to be sure to win. But in doing so I'm counting on getting it for less.

I think it would be hard for anyone to police that situation, because there's no way to know whether a bidder actually wants to win an item or is just playing a game with it. Is there some way you can bid an odd amount, so when he tries to nudge you up, he actually becomes the high bidder? Get that to happen a couple times and he'll stop doing it.

[jojac]

This guy has a knack for matching bids dollar for dollar. Another thing I noticed he likes to do is that he'll jump in on a auction item with days left when the bidding stalls. He'll max people out at that point and quit. He bids like a shill that has an interest in the items presented and that's what get me because this isn't a private auction its a MLB auction.
I bid an odd number as suggested when he got me and he matched my bid and quit.