Curious question about watching bids

[roadie16]

I am watching three items from same seller. I noticed that there is currently "one bid" on each of the three items. When I clicked on the bid to see the bid history I noticed all three bids on each different item were made within seconds of each other, each having a "different" bidder but each bidder have exactly the same number in their feedback ratings. Hmmm!!

[femmefan1946 · Accepted solution]

Is the number "0"?

That could indicate a guest bidder, bidding for the first time (or rarely bidding at all).

That being said, it is not the first bidder who wins, it is the highest. It is not the last bidder who wins, it is the highest.

If you think the seller has a shill bidder, keep in mind that some sellers have loyal customers. EBay even enables buyers to keep a list of favourite sellers for easy access to their new listings.

And shill bidders do not want to win. The best way to spot if a seller is using shills, is to watch for bid retractions near the end of bidding.

[roadie16]

The number is 78.
Thank you for your response.

[femmefan1946]

Which means the three items that interested you also interested another member enough to actually bid.

[roadie16]

Three different bidders, all with 78, all at about same time within 2 or 3 seconds of each other, all same amount. How does one bidder have three different names at one time? Coincidence?
If it showed all one bidder I would agree with you.
Just curios ......

[roadie16]

I will watch this out of curiosity to see if in fact this is a shill bid. Again, just curios as I had never noticed this before.

[richardcm]

I do not see a problem with what you observed.

Same seller. Three different items. One bid each. Different eBay ID bidding. Same feedback score.

Most likely it is the same eBay ID bidding. eBay does not show the eBay ID bidding but a scrambled ID like a**a. Three different auctions so eBay shows three different scrambled IDs. The feedback is not scrambled so all bids have the same feedback score.

Since the items are from the same seller then the starting bid amount may even be the same for all auctions. So they will all show the same bid amount for first bidder.

As for the apparent same eBay ID bidding, the potential buyer may have that seller saved and checks them regularly and knows the seller and what they sell. So it is possible to bid on a few auctions quickly from one seller by one buyer. The buyer may also have that seller saved in a search and get emails from eBay each morning about that seller. Then reviews the email and checks and bids on what they like.

As for the feedback score of 78, the buyer has most likely bought items in the past. Just like my ID here used for mostly buying. Low feedback score with some buying and selling. But I have had other eBay IDs with much higher scores used for selling.

On this eBay ID I have 4 saved searches sending me daily emails on new listings I am interested in buying. I review the items in the email and watch and bid if interested. I rarely win these auctions because they go past by max bid amount.

So it is possible and most likely for a buyer to be looking for items in the same way as me. But it could a seller too with another I’d trying to drive up the bids. But I ask you how does a seller not end up winning and buying their own items? I would find this a pain from a seller view. And can eBay track this pattern since they know the real ids involved?

[roadie16]

Thanks for that description. That was helpful.

[reallynicestamps]

But I ask you how does a seller not end up winning and buying their own items? I would find this a pain from a seller view. And can eBay track this pattern since they know the real ids involved?

That's what we look for when there may be shilling involved.

The shill account bids until he is the high bidder, then retracts and either puts in a lower bid, or more often, disappears.

A pattern of retractions by a bidder is a fairly certain sign of a shill.

A seller does not use a shill to win, so a seller whose items are constantly won by the same bidder probably just has a loyal buyer with deep pockets.

When eBay started masking IDs the purpose was to stop fake Second Chance Offers to underbidders.  (The real seller can see unmasked IDs, but no one else.)

The problem is that it made actual shilling a little easier,  since members could no longer see the bidding pattern of other bidders, and suspicion of shilling much much greater.