Auction Shill Bidding.... just a part of the hobby now?

Over the past couple years there's been a lot of suspicion and even strong evidence that some auction houses employ both internal and external "Shill bidding". For those who are not familiar with Shilling , it is when a "fake" bidder is setup to artificial increase the price/bidding on an item ..

Is this just something that has become so common place in the hobby, that we just have to work around it.. .?

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Permalink Reply by Joe W. on June 18, 2016 at 7:15pm

It is commonplace. Difficult to investigate and prove. Although, actual fakes and forgeries are the more serious problem in this hobby. IMO.

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Permalink Reply by Don Webster on June 18, 2016 at 8:18pm

Although some have been sent to prison...there is more work to be done I'm certain of that.

I was recently told by a gentleman who has been fully immersed in the internet auction business for close to 15 years that even today he still hears stories of rampant shill bidding by auction houses/consignors etc. When I asked him if the recent imprisonment of several high profile auction executives wouldn't have cured that he laughed and said in spite of what you might think that wasn't likely to happen...

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Permalink Reply by Full Time Flipper on June 18, 2016 at 9:00pm

common place as is bidding against a set reserve once other bidders have finished

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Permalink Reply by william on June 19, 2016 at 3:35am

Yes it's terrible I heard ebay sellers do same thing. Just so they can get more money hurts people that don't have a lot of money.:(

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Permalink Reply by Joe W. on June 19, 2016 at 3:45am

It's all in the fine print in the terms and conditions. Auction houses can do it several ways. Reserve auction are quite acceptable. It's when, on Internet auctions especially, the "house" has access to a bidder's ceiling bid and runs the bidding up to or near their max. Or, such as ebay, where someone bids to "cover" the seller or consignor without the public's knowledge. Auction sniper resolves this issue on ebay items.

In the end, just bid what you are willing to pay and move on.

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Permalink Reply by TradeGeek on June 20, 2016 at 12:49pm

Shill bidding has always been around. There is no way it can be completely eliminated. It goes on in high profile auctions in the art world all the time. Even for an ethical auction house there is often no way to eliminate it completely.

What was shocking about the most recent criminal cases is the incredible degree the auction house was complicit and/or enabled the shill bidding to take place. I think extreme cases like that are rare.

But run of the mill shill bidding is just something that every buyer needs to be aware is common place.