Several listings marked unknown bidder where it is quite obvious it is the seller bidding items up!

[uspau_dlstxxn]

I find this practice quite unacceptable and yet it appears Ebay accepts this practice.

Also, another issue which is unaddressed by Ebay is the is the escalated shipping charges on an identical item by the same seller.

[momcqueen]

If you suspect the seller of shill bidding, you must report it.

[ypdc_dennis]

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@uspau_dlstxxn wrote:
Several listings marked unknown bidder where it is quite obvious it is the seller bidding items up!

I find this practice quite unacceptable and yet it appears Ebay accepts this practice.

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If you think there is shill bidding -- then you report it to eBay -- and they can check the actual IDs involved.

You as a bidder NEVER see who you are bidding against while the auction is active.

And other bidders do not see who you are.

Only the seller and eBay can see all bid IDs for an auction.

-..-

[i.am.vivian]

If the other bidders are called "private bidder, identity protected" or something like that it means the seller has set up a PRIVATE LISTING. Other bidders see you as a "private bidder". Report it if you want but you may as well know eBay never does anything no matter how obvious the shilling. Just find another seller where you feel you are dealing with a more honest person. There might be nothing wrong at all but most people don't use private auctions because it looks too suspicious and it does make it easiest for sellers to shill.

[i.am.vivian]

As for the "escalated shipping charges" if you mean you think the seller is charging too much that is another reason to find another seller to buy from. Shipping is really expensive as well as complicated to get right and if it is a new seller they might not have it all sorted out yet how to do it. You are obviously not going to be happy if you complete the sale so why would you continue if you are annoyed right from the beginning?

[femmefan1946]

All buyer identities are masked during bidding.

Only you and the seller can see your eBay identity.

Everyone else looks like f***n.

Shill bidders do NOT want to win.

They want you to win at the highest bid they can force.

If other bidders are winning, your bids are too low.

If other bidders are outbidding you and then retracting, there is some chance that you are being shilled.

It's the retraction, not the bid that indicates a shill.

You can also Retract your bid.

The reasons are limited so pick whichever is handy.

Last second bidders are sniping.

This is not a shill bid, but a reaction to shilling.

Snipers bid very late to avoid having their maximum bid revealed.

The best advice is to bid once and bid your maximum.

If you think the auction is being shilled, retract your bid.

If you are very concerned about auctions in your category being shilled, bid late.

And of course, only 15% of listings are auctions at all.

And many of those have the option of a Buy It Now, which stops the auction at the BIN price.

The other 85% of listings are Fixed Price.

Maybe those are more in your comfort zone.