I need to stay away from auctions

[Blossom]

Hmmm. Never really considered there being someone behind the scenes driving up the price but anything is possible. It does get frustrating when the same person bids on EVERYTHING!
Good luck Boston Irish, hope you win everything you want & at a reasonable price!

[Catticus]

They are called Shill Bidders, or "Shills".

"What shill bidding involves is bidding without the genuine intent to purchase, and rather with the intent to ensure price protection for the seller by one of two methods:

1) The shill bids and if the bidding only reaches an amount less than the seller is willing to accept, the shill "buys" the item, and would then typically "pay" for the item and return the item to the seller, who would "reimburse" the shill for his purchase.

2) The shill bids with the intent of influencing others to bid, hoping others see his/her level of interest in the item, and gauge value based upon his/her bidding. In this scheme, the hope is that if the shill bids an amount, the other interested bidders sense one more higher bid as reasonable.

In practice, shill bidding typically involves a combination of these two methods because, of course, when the shill bids there is the inherent risk no other bids are made, thus requiring the shill to purchase the property, even if the scheme is put in place to influence others to bid higher than the shill.

Are there instances where the seller, or someone acting on behalf of the seller, can bid on the seller’s property at an auction?

Yes.

First, in any forced sale situation, where property is being sold without the seller’s consent, the seller or someone acting on behalf of the seller, may bid.

Otherwise, in a with reserve auction, the seller may bid if that right has been reserved (if the other bidders have knowledge).

However, at a without reserve auction, the seller nor someone acting on behalf of the seller may bid.

What are the implications of shill bidding?

For honest auction participants — both buyers and sellers — shill bidding damages the auction process by instilling distrust in the practice.

Buyers may avoid auctions where they believe shill bidding is tolerated.

Sellers may find lower prices where their items are sold at auctions which potential bidders are avoiding.

Too, auction buyers pay artificially inflated prices by either basing their bids on shill bidders, and/or being pushed by shill bidders to pay more.

For the shill bidder, the consequences can range from being barred from participating in auctions, to civil and and even criminal charges; fines alone to-date have been as high as $400,000 for shill bidding.

Most every case of shill bidding resulting in civil charges has involved some type of online auction, where the identity of the bidders is more easily concealed.

Shill bidding is a crime and auctioneers need to do everything they can to help eliminate it from the auction industry."

- Mike Brandly, Auctioneer, CAI, AARE

[D-Flawless]

I don’t believe it’s shill bidding...I’ve been buying on the auction since day one....10+ years now and there has been a huge increase in resellers who bid on every item of a particular stone...especially the rarer/more expensive stones...Morganite, Kunzite, Hessonite, Moldavite, Mint Garnet etc. for example Merilee....the WORST offender! She bids hundreds of pieces at a time....everything up to $150-$200 or higher. It’s a numbers game for her and those like her...she bids on so many items she actually wins many at decent prices. I imagine she buys those and throws back the rest. It’s greedy, selfish and rude and I’ve watched the practice increase recently. It has definitely taken the fun out of the auctions for people like me who buy for my own personal collection. I have actually spoken to Customer Service regarding this issue and was told nothing can be done to the people who abuse the auctions because they are actually purchasing some items. The only solution would be to change the auction format to be like eBay where you must purchase every item you win...or destroy your reputation! That would certainly slow down the likes of Merilee but it would also negatively impact the rest of us. Therefore, we’re stuck with greedy, selfish, rude resellers....ughhhhhh!!!

[Catticus]

AMEN!

I wish our bids, and especially our maximum bids, were hidden!

Then again, maybe not. I just had a picture of M hitting that button on everything anyone bids on, to drive all the bids up until SLC's computer system explodes.

🖥

[RS]

AMEN!

I wish our bids, and especially our maximum bids, were hidden!

Then again, maybe not. I just had a picture of M hitting that button on everything anyone bids on, to drive all the bids up until SLC's computer system explodes.

🖥

Our max bids ARE hidden right? I don’t think I have ever seen someone’s max bid.

G’mornin’ Catticus

[Catticus]

Our max bids ARE hidden right? I don’t think I have ever seen someone’s max bid.

G’mornin’ Catticus

Good Morning RS!

I think we can see their max bid when we use "Watch List." ????

What I find frightening is that I CANNOT REMEMBER!

[Margui]

Auctions are a hit or a miss. I never had a loose gem in any of my auctions that I made through the years, but this time, one of the Kyanites on my earrings that I won on my last auction has a scratch and I will have to replace it.

[geminigirl]

I received a burmese ruby ring three sizes larger than the one I bid on.

[Catticus]

RS, if our maximum bids are hidden, how do others consistently manage to bid right up to my maximum bid, but exactly one dollar less?

This happens to me ALL the time. I've received those notices that state you need to bid more if you want to win the item, because another bidder has a higher bid.

But how is it that whenever I enter a maximum bid on items I want, almost IMMEDIATELY, SO many of mine get bid on, and at
EXACTLY ONE DOLLAR LESS THAN MY MAXIMUM??

[Margui]

I just noticed that this topic needs to be on the $1 Online Auctions Section not in General Conversations. I like this Shop LC forum but many topics are out of their main section.