On 7/20/08 4:42 PM, in article 2008072016420716807-adamreplacethiswiththeyearthiswasposted@polyexcom, "Adam Hall" <adam_replacethiswiththeyearthiswasposted@polyex.com> wrote:Is it me or does this seem crazy? http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=300241649617What is the model # on this type of monitor? I may have one...
One interesting fact when I looked at this auction, is that one of the bidders had 100% of his bids with this particular seller. It is not enough to say it is a shill but sure does look suspicious due to the ridiculous price achieved. You can buy the monitor + a IIgs for 1/4 of what this auction went for many times a week on ebay. Some people make the terrible mistake of bidding more than what they would pay simply believing that others don't think like this and they don't want to have to keep bidding manually, believing the price they end up paying in one bid should be just slightly more than what someone else is willing to pay and thus a fair market value.
Now, if there is a shill in the mix, then you will see a price like this. It is not a guarantee of shill but is terribly suspicious. I don't know if ebay has protections in place to prevent or at least flag this behavior, but I suspect it is not in ebays interests in the short term to catch people who artificially raise the price of an item, which means more money for ebay. In the real world many unscrupulous auction houses actually provide the shill themselves!