shill bidding suspicions

[SecretSpy]

I have had a suspiciously high number of second chance offers from a certain seller. Does one of you wise ebay experts know how I can search to check them out a bit?

shill bidding isn't offers - it is bidding on your own items to boost the price.

Just block them.

Butterfly,I think you misunderstand. Op has received second chance offers from the seller leading them to believe they have won their own auction with a shill account...

Op, go to the auction, click on the bid history. You can click on the winning bidder (their username will be obscured though) and it will tell you the percentage of auctions they have won by that seller.

Have a look at feedback the seller leaves, see if you can find anyone with the same amount of feedback as the winning bidder (whilst bid history won't reveal their name it will reveal the feedback number)

Thanks Sisters, that's the info I was after

Also check out their location and compare it to the sellers

Shillers don't tend to be the sharpest tools in the shed, as bum says check out locations if possible and they can never resist leaving feedback.

Last shill I had I calculated I should have won the item for about a tenner but thanks to his several accounts it wound up at £30. I figured it out, told him where he could stick said item and reported him. All accounts were suspended. Sadly eBay aren't that hot on all the time.

Good luck, keep us updated.

you can't check out locations of the shiller any more - all you can see is if they have bidded lots with 1 seller.

there were several different bidders, all of whom had 80% + recent bids on this sellers stuff.

none had more than one retracted bid though. Lots of re lists but a business seller who may have plenty of stock

so it's not definitely dodgy I think. But I still wonder.

my recent activity probably shows 80% + recent activity on her stuff too because she has some good stuff and I use ebay in fits and starts and bought from her several times in the last couple of weeks.

Butterfly, you might be able to.
If you can locate the shill through their feedback number on the sellers feedback you can see if they have sold anything. Shills are often friends and family too.
If the shill had sold something you have thier location.

you can't from feedback any more though

Yes, you can.

When you see the bidder list on the auction the name is blanked out but the feedback number does tally. You then go on to the sellers feedback, look at the feedback left and find the one with the matching number (because from experience sellers will usually leave feedback for their shill at least once).
Now you have the username of the shill. Click on them and you have several options. Do they have items for sale? Have the sold something within the last few months? Either of those options will show their location within the auctions for things they have sold.

any shill bidders I have spotted have not got feedback for the seller at all! They want to be secret so don't leave any normally.

Every one I've come across has been daft enough to leave the shill feedback. Its very common.
You are not accounting for friends of the seller bidding up their items with their own accounts either.
Shills don't automatically have 0 feedback.