Shill Bidder Technique

OnlyBuffalos

I recently had the opportunity to talk with an eBay Power Seller at the First Monday sale in Canton, Texas. The conversation eventually got around to techniques he used to optimize his sales. This is what he said is his most effective technique.

He stated that it is very important to have a lot of bidders on an auction. To that end, he starts every auction at a low amount, often one cent but occasionally one dollar. He then sellects a reserve amount.
He next runs a program to increase bids under his shill name of which he has many, until he is just short of his reserve. On a starting price of one cent, he is able to record over 70 bids on an item with a reserve of $25. He varies his bid increments so that the number of bids is not always the same.

I did not get his eBay sellers name but do know he does not sell coins.

gmarguli

Create a different account. Bid on a ton of stuff from many sellers with that account. If you win, who cares, you'll be NARUed in a few day, but if you shill yours properly, then you'll get an extra $5 or so.