Possible Shill Bidding on Tinbids?

[Puffaluffaguss]

Title edited for capitalization. Rule 9!

I don't know if anybody else has noticed or tried bidding on these specific items as well. But there are some strange auctions on tinbids in which the seller puts a high buy now with the same reserve amount i assume, if nobody bids high enough to win they relist the item for the high amount of the failed auction. It just seems strange to me. I also believe that the person who is selling is also bidding up from a different account. This is just my experience and was wondering if anybody else has noticed this as well.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Instigating a bid war? Seems commonplace with auctions.

 

[Servant King]

Seeing as there are shills on real estate sites like Zillow (and even Craigslist) driving up housing and rental prices, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see this tactic utilized regarding comparatively penny-ante items like tobacco.

 

[Puffaluffaguss]

Instigating a bid war? Seems commonplace with auctions.

It 100% is, except it shouldn't be against the person who is also the auctioner. I have no proof that Said auction is shill bidding. But people have shilled for alot less. I wouldn't put it past anyone. Especially when you think you have something worth more then what people are bidding on it. I've heard it happening from pokemon cards to pipes. And on a site like tinbids, it's pretty easy to get away with it I assume.

 

[kcghost]

Grow up, buddy. There is always a angle.

 

[renfield]

Where there’s an auction, there will be shills.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Happens on ebay all of the time.

 

[coming to_falling too]

Sounds like he needs to take a "shill" pill.....

 

[bullet08]

Just don't bid. Nothing lost.

 

[mso489]

Even an auction without shills is a sort of mechanism to pump up the price beyond the point of pricing that would otherwise be sensible. As soon as people feel competitive, both bidders are likely to lose. The smart money bids once, at the price they know is right and let's it go if the price goes up. Which makes for a dull auction.

 

[Doctor Chopper]

Even an auction without shills is a sort of mechanism to pump up the price beyond the point of pricing that would otherwise be sensible. As soon as people feel competitive, both bidders are likely to lose. The smart money bids once, at the price they know is right and let's it go if the price goes up. Which makes for a dull auction.

I agree with this tactic. That being said, I have done that and have never won an auction.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I believe if you use a pragmatic approach to bidding, all this is irrelevant. Decide the price you'll pay and place your bid. If it wins, great. If not, great as well.

 

[Honkytonk Man]

Just don't bid. Nothing lost.

^^^^ Yup, this right here!

When they started advertising on this forum, I thought that I'd give them a shot.

Well, I gave them a shot, but their shot has in fact been shot. I ain't visiting no more. Double negative! I won't visy their site again.

 

[LOREN]

I had a teacher (years and years ago) who told the class he was at a flower auction in Europe where the price started high and would drop until someone claimed the flower crate or whatever. My teacher said he thought that style of bidding might be good for the seller as the first bid is the final bid and might prompt people to bid more than they might have otherwise because there is no back and forth between buyers.

 

[Honkytonk Man]

I had a teacher (years and years ago) who told the class he was at a flower auction in Europe where the price started high and would drop until someone claimed the flower crate or whatever. My teacher said he thought that style of bidding might be good for the seller as the first bid is the final bid and might prompt people to bid more than they might have otherwise because there is no back and forth between buyers.

Well Tin-Bids start off and keep going, until the bidding time has elapsed and then say that the reserve price hasn't been met. Despite the bids being way more generous than they ought to have been.

I'm guessing your story hails from Holland. From the Tulip auctions?

 

[Honkytonk Man]

Just don't bid. Nothing lost.

At the very least, have a limit.

 

[bullet08]

At the very least, have a limit.

I just don't go for aged blends. But when I do bid on things like pocket knives and so on, I know what want and I know how much it can go for. Yupe, knowing the market and having the limit is necessary. And if the bid is fishy, don't play the game.

 

[Puffaluffaguss]

It was a question in which I stated "has anybody else" noticed anything weird as well. I'm "NOT" bidding on said auction after the fact he relisted said item with my prior max bid as starting bid. I think it's either somebody is doing it and doesn't want it out there or just doesn't care if people are getting scammed. I just put out it out there do with the info as you plz but don't discourage people from talking about it because then you look like your defending a scammer. Either way it's no loss or gain to me to let people know what I have seen going on.

 

[Puffaluffaguss]

Even an auction without shills is a sort of mechanism to pump up the price beyond the point of pricing that would otherwise be sensible. As soon as people feel competitive, both bidders are likely to lose. The smart money bids once, at the price they know is right and let's it go if the price goes up. Which makes for a dull auction.

I understand you perspective but that's not the case for every auction, hense the thread for getting literal steals from auctions, in which the auctioner let's what they have go for what people are willing to pay. A shill bidder is the complete opposite of that. If they don't feel they are getting enough for said item they will bid on there own item just to raise the price. Like I said I'm not gonna 100% say shill because I have no proof and I'm sure there honest people selling on tinbids. This is just a discussion trying see if anybody else has noticed this as well.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I had never visited that site till just now. HOLY COW!! If people actually are paying anywhere near those starting bid rates, then I have a fortune in pipe tobacco cellared away. I don't even understand how someone would be willing to pay so much for something in production that only has a few years on it. You can still find blends at B&M's that have a few years on them.

Is this like a special needs pipe smoker's site?

You know, just letting a tin set in a closet doesn't cost someone money. And, just a few years... it kills me how people think that just a few years drastically makes a blend so much better. If we were talking decades, that would be different.