[DynaEtch]

In my experience the consignment company listings on eBay are the most likely to be shilled, for obvious reasons. It’s become a joke in some respects. I posted a thread a month or so ago about a few such examples- evidence of shilling clear as day on some higher end sealed cases from one of the big consignors. Reported the listings, brought it to the attention of the consignor and eBay….nothing was done. I’m not convinced eBay cares about the integrity of its auctions, given that and similar examples.

You can look for clues in the bid history…obviously high percentage of bids with seller is one thing to look for. You wont have eBay ids but you can identify a same user based on the feedback number/percentage bid on with seller, and look for patterns with that user and the seller. Look at completed listings and see if the same item sold before and was relisted- possibly the result of a shill winning the auction (its not a guarantee of shilling…non paying buyers happen- but look for patterns with those in the bid history. Also nonpayment relistings *should* take at least 4 days after auction end).

Bid sniping is not a safeguard from getting scammed by shilling. You still can end up paying more than you would have without the fake bid…sometimes a lot more…regardless of when your bid is placed, last second or not.