I am not usually one to accuse people of shill bidding, but I think I have a pretty strong case. I bid on 3 graded ancients, and lost all 3. All three sold to the same bidder. They were immediately relisted by another seller. Both sellers have about 96% feedback. Here is the current auction/seller.... http://www.ebay.com/itm/336-323BC-K...600692?hash=item3d0f97a1f4:g:MtwAAOSwqYBWosQp Now here is the sale history of the other seller..... http://www.ebay.com/csc/dragonfly31215/m.html?LH_Complete=1&_ipg=50&_since=15&_sop=13&_rdc=1 Both sellers located in same city. Worth reporting?
A common type coin that could be bought raw and cheaper too. But yes, I would report it and avoid the seller, and slabbed ancients.
I must say for all the bitching and gritching I have seen about shill biding, this is the first time I have seen something that might actually be shill bidding. It is not proof, but it sure is a good hint.
Almost every time I see someone complaining about shills, I can usually find an explanation for why it might not be. This one, not so much. Same coins being immediately sold with a different seller, in the same city. All the coins were "sold" to the same bidder. If you check that bidders history, 100% of his bids were with that seller. Both usernames have bad feedback, for the same reasons (not honoring sales, etc. I guess that is why he decided to start shilling, to prevent negatives). edit to add- looks like the one offering the coin now was the "winning bidder" (feedback number matches). But considering they are in the same city, have the same listing style, and have only bid on the other sellers auctions (100% of their bids are on the other sellers items) I am 99.999999 positive its a shill.
Sure looks like shill bidding. However, good luck getting Ebay to do anything about it. Shill bidding is bad on American Ebay and even worse on Italian Ebay. You should always check out the bidding history of the bidders on a coin you want. It you see 75% or higher bids with the seller you might want to back off. Then you also have the very suspicious "private listing" auctions that are the perfect cover for shill bidding.
I can understand your concerns, but you can lose a lot of hair worrying about them. I use a 'sniping' tool in which I enter the most I am happy to pay for a coin, and it bids that amount (or less) for me at the end of the auction, and I win it or I do not. I have Cancer and I look forwards, not backwards. Another day, another coin, another auction. Life is simple. Life is good. P.S. I worried about not having any shoes, until I met a man who had no feet. (Anon.)
Maybe the seller has himself convinced that that coin is worth a lot more than it actually is because it's in a slab marked AU. I mean, it's a great coin, but there isn't a chance in hell it's worth over $1000. As Mat points out, an equally nice raw version could be had for much cheaper - in the $500 range, actually. It could very well be a case of shill bidding, but I've seen sellers on eBay win a coin and immediately post it for sale at a higher price, using the first seller's images no less. You know they haven't even received the coin yet.
The first Alexander has the tip of the nose off the flan. I find off-centering that cuts into the portrait disturbing and not worthy of a "5" when it comes to strike. With slabbed coins some buyers look at the grade and numbers. Instead, they should look at the coin!
If I may offer a suggestion when bidding. Offer to buy at a price you think is a fair one for the seller and a good one for you to purchase at. Do not get into a bidding war with anyone, shill or hobbyist. If your offer is accepted be happy. If it is not, be even happier
Ebay doesn't care, as long as they pay the 12.8% on each transaction. If they canceled the transactions then you can get Ebay to ban them.
I guarantee they will be canceling them. No way they are going to pay those fees if they didn't really sell.
