what are signs that a seller is shill bidding

[lightinghottlc]

seller listing same item minutes after the last one expired,  same pictures including specific defects,  what do you look for before reporting the seller

[femmefan1946]

It could be sloppy descriptions. For example, the seller has multiples (possibly used or returns, which would tend to have defects) and is just reusing the same picture and description, even though they are different items.

In any case than is not a sign of shill bidding.

A SHILL NEVER WANTS TO WIN. He wants you to win at your highest bid.

If you are constantly being beat on the hammer of an auction, that's not shilling. You are just bidding below the market price. Raise your bid and you will win.

The most obvious sign of shilling is a bidder who has been nibbling, putting in many small bids, then retracting his bid when he becomes the high bidder.

Another, much less reliable, is that the same masked ID bids on all the seller's items. However, some sellers do have faithful customers so this can be misleading.

If you are not sure, Report the auction to eBay. They will not tell you the result of their investigation.

[nubian_treasures]

Also if the seller cancels the same bidder's bids when they are in the lead. There was one seller who was so obliviously shilling that ebay should be shot for allowing it after I've reported multiple auctions between the two for weeks. The seller would cancel the shill's bids saying something like "stop bidding", "stop having your daughter bid", "mistake" or "I blocked them but they keep bidding" which is a total lie. Blocked bidders cannot bid. There were retractions as well and I reported those to no avail. There was a lot of wins for the shill but the feedback would be bizarre. This seller sold coins. After literally months of reporting the seller and their shill, I gave up. Ebay gets percentage of the entire sale. That is all they are concerned. They are not concerned about the integrity of the site. I could go into a long schpeal about ebay's corporate big wigs but I'll spare you the agony plus it's too early in the morning to think about such unpleasant memories.