( 
)shill
n : a decoy who acts as an enthusiastic customer in order to stimulate the participation of others v : act as a shill; "The shill bid for the expensive carpet during the auction in order to drive the price up"
Unfortunately, shill bidding DOES happen on eBay. But you can protect yourself by doing just a little bit of research before clicking on the BID button.
On the auction page, just above the winning bidders name, click on "bid history". If the bid history is long and mostly filled with zero (0) or low feedback bidders, the item has a higher likelihood of having been shilled. Of course, this isn't full proof.. you may have to investigate further. Select and copy the name of a bidder who has appeared frequently in the bid history, then click on "Advanced Search" just below the search field at the top, right of the eBay screen. On the Advanced Search page, click on "items by bidder" and then paste the name of the bidder into the search field provided. Be sure to check the box asking "Include completed listings (last 30 days)" as well as the button asking "Even if not high bidder"
Does the bidder seem to bid on this sellers items a lot? Especially without winning? You may have discovered a shill bidder. Oftentimes, sellers may use two or three shill bidders to drive the price up to their expectations.
Does this mean you shouldn't bid? That I cannot answer for you. If the item is still priced affordably to you, that's your decision. No one, even a shill bidder, can make you bid more than you're maximum bid. Whether the seller uses (illegal) shill bidders or simply prices the auction higher to begin with, YOU are the one who must decide what that item is worth to you.
However, I do implore you to check the feedback of the seller. In fact, use the great tools at toolhausDOTorg to go through their negative feedback and consider how many feedbacks they may have had "mutually withdrawn". This is a sign of many unhappy customers.
Often, sellers who often use shillers are dishonest in other areas of their business, too... including measurements, descriptions, condition statements, etc.
So before you bid -- get all the facts.
n : a decoy who acts as an enthusiastic customer in order to stimulate the participation of others v : act as a shill; "The shill bid for the expensive carpet during the auction in order to drive the price up"
Unfortunately, shill bidding DOES happen on eBay. But you can protect yourself by doing just a little bit of research before clicking on the BID button.
On the auction page, just above the winning bidders name, click on "bid history". If the bid history is long and mostly filled with zero (0) or low feedback bidders, the item has a higher likelihood of having been shilled. Of course, this isn't full proof.. you may have to investigate further. Select and copy the name of a bidder who has appeared frequently in the bid history, then click on "Advanced Search" just below the search field at the top, right of the eBay screen. On the Advanced Search page, click on "items by bidder" and then paste the name of the bidder into the search field provided. Be sure to check the box asking "Include completed listings (last 30 days)" as well as the button asking "Even if not high bidder"
Does the bidder seem to bid on this sellers items a lot? Especially without winning? You may have discovered a shill bidder. Oftentimes, sellers may use two or three shill bidders to drive the price up to their expectations.
Does this mean you shouldn't bid? That I cannot answer for you. If the item is still priced affordably to you, that's your decision. No one, even a shill bidder, can make you bid more than you're maximum bid. Whether the seller uses (illegal) shill bidders or simply prices the auction higher to begin with, YOU are the one who must decide what that item is worth to you.
However, I do implore you to check the feedback of the seller. In fact, use the great tools at toolhausDOTorg to go through their negative feedback and consider how many feedbacks they may have had "mutually withdrawn". This is a sign of many unhappy customers.
Often, sellers who often use shillers are dishonest in other areas of their business, too... including measurements, descriptions, condition statements, etc.
So before you bid -- get all the facts.
Guide created: 09/26/06 (updated 06/11/09)
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