How Do You Report Shill Bidding?

I might have imagined it Bobby. But I feel I remember something on the discussion boards from when changes to bidder IDs were introduced to ebay. co .uk in 1996 that basically said ebay was going to look out for patterns that might indicate shill bidding.

Yes, I know ebay don't discuss what steps they take to monitor bidding. But I feel I must have gotten the impression somewhere that software was one of the arms they use in their fight against 'illegal' practices.

Personally I don't see it as too difficult to spot. If someone bids disproportionately on a single seller's items, frequently retracts what would be winning bids to end up as under-bidder and has little feedback when they do win, what am I supposed to think?

I don't know how else to say it but you don't understand how it works.

I've seen as many as 20 AOL users on this site with the same IP address. Now if I've seen 20, how many do you think ebay could see at any given time? AOL uses proxies that all their users share. AOL users also usually change IP addresses with every single page load. Some Mobile networks do the same thing. With these type setups you do not see the end user IP address.

I learned this the hard way when I started this forum. I can ban an IP address, but I have to check the IP out before willy nilly banning. If you ban an AOL proxy or a mobile network proxy, you can literally ban hundreds of members.

Well no matter what you think, GA doesn't do it. Neither does Statcounter. Both state of the art.

But hey, for the sake of argument, you win. K?

Also, cell phones, iPads, tablets, etc connected to any wifi will always show the wifi's ip. Another reason you can't use them for proof.

No. If my power goes out, I sometimes get a new IPA when it comes back on. True static IPAs are rare and usually you must pay a monthly fee for it. It is possible though with some ISPs to have the same IPA for a while. I can also log into my router and release and renew anytime I want. Yet another reason IPAs are unreliable.

There's also many other ISPs that use the proxy system. I think Roadrunner and Earthlink at least used to, maybe still.

Who cares if it is or isn't shill bidding. Why would you continue to bid on auctions if you are suspicious of the seller?

That does sound very dodgy... I think if you just bid what you are prepared to pay then shills shouldn't matter, though it is distasteful to find out a seller is doing that.

The conclusion is obvious - to me as well - but not even if the bidder could be traced as the seller's next-door neighbor could shill bidding be "proven." Now, ebay doesn't need that level of proof, since it's their sandbox. They can ban on whatever evidence they wish. Just don't expect them to.