The 2024 eBay Shilling Epidemic

[bub838]

This isn’t unique to 2024 and isn’t unique to eBay. Go take a dive in the rare/vintage watch world.

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by asujbl

So bid your max

I don’t get this post

It's not that simple and you know it. Pricing trading cards is as much an art form as it is a science.

Clearly shill bidders justify their shill bidding by rationalizing that buyers are only bidding the most they are willing to pay. But the truth is, they probably wouldn't have bid so high if they had known a shill bidder would artificially drive up their price.

[fabiani12333]

The people in this thread saying shill bidding can't be stopped are lying or mistaken. EBay can require ID verification and autopay for bidders. They don't do it because they don't have an incentive to do it. It's only when it hurts their bottom line, or they are legally liable, do they do anything.

And auctions won't sharply decline if shill bidding is stopped. If sellers are afraid of selling their cards at too low of a price, they can set a minimum price.

A lot of shill bidding is from people who are trying to prop up the prices of their cards -- it's sad and pathetic.

[ObanMontecristo]

I disagree that posting about it here can’t help. #1, the more it’s discussed, the more others are educated, and the greater the chance that either eBay actually does something about it or reputable sellers can spot when it’s happening and cancel shill bids. #2, there is often a pattern with the sellers who employ or entertain shill bidders the most- we can identify who those sellers are and avoid them.

[PuddleMonkey]

I always assume anyone defending shilling is a shiller.

[JustRachel]

Originally Posted by PuddleMonkey

I always assume anyone defending shilling is a shiller.

It sure seems that way, doesn't it?
Everybody does it, it's everywhere, it can't be stopped, blah blah.

It's true that someone like me can't really do much to fix the entire market, but it's also true that I can take steps to avoid or mitigate being victimized by it. We all can.

[JustRachel]

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

It's not that simple and you know it. Pricing trading cards is as much an art form as it is a science.

Clearly shill bidders justify their shill bidding by rationalizing that buyers are only bidding the most they are willing to pay. But the truth is, they probably wouldn't have bid so high if they had known a shill bidder would artificially drive up their price.

Auctions are not supposed to hammer at "the most a bidder is willing to pay". That's the nature of auctions.

[hanes1111]

https://www.ebay.com/bfl/viewbids?ss...m=176241555363

This is my item and its getting bumps from zero feedback bidders, I have no clue who they are and dont know if they will pay but maybe there is something going on in the bigger picture site wide.

[Archangel1775]

Could be guest accounts.

[hanes1111]

Originally Posted by Archangel1775

Could be guest accounts.

I did pay to promote it so maybe thats the organic promotion you pay up front.....

[dashcol]

Originally Posted by atk825

Bid what you are willing to pay isn't overpaying. Sorry you didn't get a discount. Another purpose of shilling is someone not selling a card for below comps, which is common in auctions.

This thinking is what has become one of the bad sides of this hobby.

You know what else will do that? SETTING A RESERVE!

If you don’t want to sell below comps…this one is a little trickier…set it as a BIN!

Problem solved. This alone is why I have stopped buying off eBay is the amount of problem and shady sellers.

I’ve never gone to my LCS, have them have a price on a card, then change the price after I say I’m going to buy it. That is what a shiller is doing,

And all that work of creating a shill account, living on eBay to make sure you can bid up all the cards you are selling, just to have the card sell…to you as the shiller! You lost a sale all to pinch a few more pennies out of a sale and it normally doesn’t work, just results in a lost sale.

It does raise comps though, so I guess they win?

[atk825]

Originally Posted by dashcol

This thinking is what has become one of the bad sides of this hobby.

You know what else will do that? SETTING A RESERVE!

If you don’t want to sell below comps…this one is a little trickier…set it as a BIN!

Problem solved. This alone is why I have stopped buying off eBay is the amount of problem and shady sellers.

I’ve never gone to my LCS, have them have a price on a card, then change the price after I say I’m going to buy it. That is what a shiller is doing,

And all that work of creating a shill account, living on eBay to make sure you can bid up all the cards you are selling, just to have the card sell…to you as the shiller! You lost a sale all to pinch a few more pennies out of a sale and it normally doesn’t work, just results in a lost sale.

It does raise comps though, so I guess they win?

You are talking to someone who almost exclusively buys on ebay. It's just that there's basically nothing that will be done about shilling but also, ebay remains basically the best place to buy cards. There's enough good deals that aren't shilled that make buying there worth it.

[dashcol]

Originally Posted by atk825

You are talking to someone who almost exclusively buys on ebay. It's just that there's basically nothing that will be done about shilling but also, ebay remains basically the best place to buy cards. There's enough good deals that aren't shilled that make buying there worth it.

To each their own.

I have not had a huge issue finding what I am looking for without buying off eBay. Patience is key, which I have a lot of. I also am never really looking for the crazy rare cards, so that helps.

I did buy on eBay this year for my secret Santa gifts, but that was only because time was of the essence and I couldn’t wait months for what I was looking for to become available elsewhere.

I just prefer to buy cards places where a price is agreed upon and then not changed. I also don’t want to buy from somewhere where morals are optional. Just me though.

[majestik101]

Oh Boo Hoo, I card I really wanted got shilled.

Cry me a river.

Sincerely,

eBay since the early 2000's

[IronCladLou]

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

EBay can require ID verification and autopay for bidders.

Would be the perfect world. Autopay messes with me when i max out one card and I want to use another.

I would like a failed payment to be instant blocking/dismissal off the site.

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by PuddleMonkey

I always assume anyone defending shilling is a shiller.

Starting to wonder this as well. Pretty common in any shilling threads on here too, surprisingly.

As for shilling existing on eBay since it’s origins…yea, but as a longtime user, it seems much worse in card categories in more recent years than it used to be far back. I blame it almost entirely on the rise and proliferation of the consignment auctions. There is no question ebay is filled with more of them these days, both the big consignment places and the random mid tier ones. Just how it is, shilling tends to be a bigger issue with consignment, almost expected at this point. The conflict of interest is so blatant.

[hammertime]

It's a problem for sure, but I also think people jump to that conclusion a little too easily. It's like assuming "pop control" when you don't get the grade you wanted. If an auction is being shilled it seems like there would be telltale signs...lots of small, incremental bids, bid cancellations, relistings, etc. Just because an auction got a bid by someone with low or no feedback doesn't mean it's being shilled.

[hammertime]

Originally Posted by hanes1111

https://www.ebay.com/bfl/viewbids?ss...m=176241555363

This is my item and its getting bumps from zero feedback bidders, I have no clue who they are and dont know if they will pay but maybe there is something going on in the bigger picture site wide.

This has happened to me before as well, I assume it's others with the same card trying to bump up the cOmPs. Really annoys me as, as shown in this thread, people assume it's always some scam by the seller.

[jas1214]

Originally Posted by IronCladLou

Would be the perfect world. Autopay messes with me when i max out one card and I want to use another.

I would like a failed payment to be instant blocking/dismissal off the site.

These issues could be easily rectified by having a backup payment method stored, or allowing users who have been declined a period of 24 hours to complete payment using a different method.

I really like this idea a lot.

[tonedef2oo8]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

i always snipe

Which avoids a bidding war and does absolutely nothing at all for shilling.


You put a max bid of 75 dollars. It was only going to end at 35 with no shilling. You put a snipe in and now are paying 65 because it was shilled. And the snipe accomplished nothing

[tonedef2oo8]

It’s funny you can read these posts and see who are the shilling penny pinching losers around here. All you have to read their responses…

[PumpnDumpling]

Don't use drugs, kids

[Bosoxfan5990]

Originally Posted by dashcol

This thinking is what has become one of the bad sides of this hobby.

You know what else will do that? SETTING A RESERVE!

If you don’t want to sell below comps…this one is a little trickier…set it as a BIN!

Problem solved. This alone is why I have stopped buying off eBay is the amount of problem and shady sellers.

I’ve never gone to my LCS, have them have a price on a card, then change the price after I say I’m going to buy it. That is what a shiller is doing,

And all that work of creating a shill account, living on eBay to make sure you can bid up all the cards you are selling, just to have the card sell…to you as the shiller! You lost a sale all to pinch a few more pennies out of a sale and it normally doesn’t work, just results in a lost sale.

It does raise comps though, so I guess they win?

If it's not paid for, it won't show as a completed sale on eBay Terapeak. I'm not sure about the other 3rd party comp sites (130point, Alt, etc.), but I solely use Terapeak for this reason.

Originally Posted by hammertime

This has happened to me before as well, I assume it's others with the same card trying to bump up the cOmPs. Really annoys me as, as shown in this thread, people assume it's always some scam by the seller.

I was going to say something to this effect earlier in the thread, but you can likely tell whether it's a scam by the seller or not if you dig deeper into the bid history for the 0 or low feedback account. If they've only bid on 1 item for that seller or their bid history has a low % with that seller, it likely isn't the seller's shill account.

[exjoe1973]

Originally Posted by Cardboard Dawg

This has gotten out of hand.

Seems like a majority of the listings I follow are being shilled. These are cards for lesser known players and/or players out of their respective sports league.

0 feedback bidders running up bids. I haven’t placed a bid on these listings for the record, I was following one that ended a few days ago and checked the bidders and saw a 0 feedback bidder won. Checked my other followed listings and they’re littered with 0 feedback bidders.

I mean, I can’t be the only one who is seeing this and doesn’t want to bid against myself, right?

I agree, it has gotten very bad. They can also sabotage your own auctions forcing you to sell BIN as any auction they will run the price up to moon where people think you are doing this.

[AllHofers]

Originally Posted by ThoseBackPages

yes, thats true. But as a collector, i snipe what i am comfortable paying.

would it be fantastic to stuff for less? of course it would. but winning is what its all about

Winning and getting the card for less is what its all about.