GB shill bidders

[Bald1]

So most of us have long suspected shill bidders on THE major gun auction site. I now have pretty solid evidence. I was looking at a rifle with a high buy it now price and it did not have a minimum bid. Well it was relisted but with a reserve. I made my first bid but was below reserve. Sometimes seller will contact high bidder at end of auction when reserve is not met. Well yesterday the auction was ending. A bidder with 1 transaction shows up at raised my bid $50. After I bid he did it again and a third time. Always $50. I stopped bidding at $906. I suspected reserve was $1100 because that was opening bid for previous auction. Well it ended and did not meet reserve. Today it's relisted again with a reserve and opening bid of $800. And the 1 transaction bidder is the opener bid. I really liked that rifle. But he can keep it.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

My mom was an antique dealer (part time) since before I was born. There were several auctioneers around central Ohio, that would "Run" up bids with non-existing people or "shill" bidders. I watched dad deal with that several times! One time when I was about 15, the auctioneer wouldn't take a bid from dad (we believe it was going to his brother) but I interjected a very loud whistle and he couldn't ignore dad any longer. We got the box "Of Old Junk" for $210! The old junk was full of WWII German dress uniform equipment. On dagger was "Order of the White Cross" we sold it about a year later for $1500. There was the only "Successful Mission" submarine conning tower pennate I've ever seen. we got over $900 for that one. There were "Party" armbands and all types of "Beer Hall" (very early) badges. I'm not sure, but I think we made about 6 grand on that box of junk!

By the way: The in person estate auctions often have "catering" by church women's groups. That has been some of the best pies and cakes I ever tasted! You won't get those at an online auction!

Ivan

 

[pmanton]

Some years ago I was bidding on an item that both the wife and I wanted. My bid kept being upped from someone on the other side of the room. I finally said enough is enough and stopped bidding. The person on the other side of the room, whom I couldn't see, was my wife.

 

[444 Magnum]

I have no problem with a published reserve, but I don't like auctions that say they are absolute but run you up with false bids.

An auction house in my area advertises itself as absolute but will let dealers bid on their own items that are being auctioned. It's all quietly done but we saw dealers loading up their own firearms after the auction. We recognized many of the items from their gunshow tables. I quit going there.

 

[rwsmith]

The solution is simple.....

Don't bid any more than you are willing to spend. If you get hotly involved in a bidding war you could end up paying lot more than you expected. Ok, it's a waste of your time, but if the item gets out of hand and looks fishy, drop it like a hot potato. There are scammers in every walk of life, just don't let yourself be taken.

 

[kraynky]

I learned my lesson on local auctions around here some 30- 40 years ago. The crowd gets going with the excitement just "to win" and most everything sells for more than it's worth (plus the auction fees!).

I've only a handful of times won a GB auction at my self imposed limit. And only once do I recall thinking "I got a deal" at the end of an auction.

But I still look........... I'm weak........ but getting stronger.

 

[bushmaster1313]

Both on Gunbroker and eBay I realized that I was getting shilled when over and over I found myself being the second highest bidder.