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I apologize if this has been asked before, but something silly seems to be happening with an item I am watching. The item is the Newfoundland Balboa overprint (Unitrade C18) which usually sells for around $200-$300. A seller has listed a copy at a very low starting bid and one bidder has bid 15 times already in increments of about $3. Is he just a little crazy or is this a shill bidder? I probably should know this but I don't and it would help me to know a little more about what's going on here. Whenever I see this happening, I usually avoid the item.

greidp, could you please provide a link to the item?

Thanks

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Sorry Norm, learning how to do that is on my "to-do" list but need to consult with my techno-wizard son who is probably in bed which is where I'm going shortly (almost midnight here). The stamp is listed on eBay and the listing ends in about 11 hours. 31 bids so far up to, I think, about Cdn$189.

greidp hi, the top left corner of the ebay page is the address it should be alongside your return page arrow or icon which ever you have on screen, right click mouse select copy and then come here right click again and select paste, the page address should appear. I am sure the guys will love to see this ebay page.

Cheers
Michael

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/170848249341?ssP ... 1423.l2649
Thanks Mickey. Got it, I think! Going to bed!

I see no evidence of shill bidding. None of the bidders appear to have an unusually high history with the seller.

The seller bygonesofbridlington has over 35,000 sales and starts everything at 99p which is a strategy used by a number of high powered eBay sellers, and seems to mostly work and certainly encourages multiple bids. He probably would not risk his reputation over a GBP 150 stamp.

As this auction has proceeded, some of the 12 bidders "top" bids have kicked in and pushed it even further, but from the market value for this item given by greidp. It still appears to be a reasonable price, and given his history on eBay, he probably has quite a few collectors who keep their eye out for his listings.

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

I've bought from Bygones before, they always have masses of stuff running on eBay, from all over the place. Their 35,000 feedback should be evidence they're not running a scam.

On eBay.uk, listings with a start bid up to 99p are free--there's no listing fee that is, of course there's a selling fee. So if you have an item worth 150GBP, why pay a couple quid to eBay to list it with an opening bid of 99.99 or 129.99 or whatever.

If the material is popular, and you describe it properly, people will find it. If you're a regular seller who's built up a following of people who check back on your sales, all the better.

SB members are always on the lookout for eBay sellers who shill their listings, or worse, sell homemade fakes and forgeries as the real thing. With the number of reports "we" generate, those sellers' accounts tend to be deleted pretty quickly.

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Collecting Mongolia; Thailand; Indo-China; Mourning Covers; OHMS.
My online 'store': http://stampsfromaethelwulf.blogspot.com/

Thanks everyone!

Henry Gitner also made this stamp his "Tip of the Week" in Linn's a few weeks back.

So there is always a small surge in buyers for material he suggests.

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Listing MNH Canada this Week. - http://www.JaceStamps.com
I do not always get all SB Messages or Emails, Please contact directly stamps[at]jace.net

Some less experienced people do bid online as if it were a room auction -- i.e. a step or so above the current bid. It's not a particularly good approach, but some eBay sites (possibly not all) do encourage it -- if a bid fails a little box comes up asking if you want to bid one step more. So this pattern can be quite genuine, which is annoying as it can be hard to tell which applies!

All concerned

Well it just closed for £126.04 which is quite good for a lightly hinged centered slightly to the top Balboa.

I too have bought from bygonesofbridlington and found them truly excellent.

What you thought of as a shill bidder was just an incremental cheapskate, as least in my opinion.

Kindest regards

Richard Debney

Bygones are a good seller. I often start bidding like that to see where the bidder above me has set their limit.