Is shill bidding immoral?

[NY_in_TX]

yup.  I bought 3 monaco GPs with some other guys.  I paid about $24 for the three with fees and taxes.

the poor dude who brought his games up there, on my 3 anyway, PAID about $41 to sell those games.

now I'm assuming he brought a bunch and got a deal on the premiums.  plus he most likely had some other games make money to take a hit, but still it makes no sense.

now with Paige's comments it makes some sense, if Super Auctions got those for song and then just sold em for whatever without fees and stuff then I guess at least they got some money.

the whole thing is a big sham, but it's what we got to work with and I kinda like hangin out with the riff raff...makes me seem hard and street smart.   

[PoDunkMoFo]

Well I'm not wanting to ship these things so putting them online doesn't give me a wider audience. I've never tried the newspaper. I've never put anything in the paper. I don't know what that involves or how effective it is.

Plus theer's a difference between bidding your own stuff up and having someone else do it for ouy. One is just protecting your assets. The other is faking interest for the machine to get other pumped up to bid higher.

Yeah there is a difference but I think it's no better because you are bidding yourself.  If the other bidder doesn't know you are the owner then he doesn't know you aren't really bidding the same amount for the item.

Bottom line....  If you don't think you are going to get what you want at auction, don't sell it at auction.

Auctions appeal to both sides of the transaction because;

The buyer thinks they are going to get it dirt cheap.

The seller thinks auction fever will get him more than if he sold it outright.

Shill bidding completely takes the level off the playing field.

[AlanS17]

What about if I wear a big sign that says "this is my machine"?

[kcorcoran]

how about a sign that says...

i want at least $X for this machine or i'm buying it back.

then stand next to the machine.

[PoDunkMoFo]

What about if I wear a big sign that says "this is my machine"?

That would level the field yes.

And if you were the only person I was bidding against I would ask you what you want for it.  If I liked your price I would save you the trouble of buying it back if not I would walk away and let you take it home.

Of course we all know the sign thing ain't gonna happen.

[Raven..]

What about if I wear a big sign that says "this is my machine"?

That would level the field yes.

And if you were the only person I was bidding against I would ask you what you want for it.

[AlanS17]

How about I write "Alan" in crayon on the glass of my machines?

[Raven..]

How about I write "Alan" in crayon on the glass of my machines?

Or just hand out a price list to anyone who knows the BYOAC secret handshake! 

[paigeoliver]

Most sellers when dicussing their machines don't even hide the fact that they will buy it back if it doesn't hit a certain price.

[Raven..]

Most sellers when dicussing their machines don't even hide the fact that they will buy it back if it doesn't hit a certain price.

Exactly.  So a little polite conversation can save someone a lot of trouble.

[thetered]

So, uh, Alan, you ever gonna get back to me with those prices?

[AlanS17]

So, uh, Alan, you ever gonna get back to me with those prices?

I've been swamped with transactions lately. Please PM and be very specific.

[grueinthebox]

Sounds like a safe bet that 99% of what's going to happen at a Super Auction is going to be crooked...  With regards to Alan's stuffs, everyone around here can see what he's got so may as well just make him an offer on it now and save yourself the trouble and him the fees, since any offer you make that's declined will essentially guarantee a buyback at that price if the machine DOES go to auction.

And who really cares what the non-BYOAC'ers think anyway?  Feel free to stick it to 'em, Alan. 

I didn't vote, but I'd typically be against shilling as, like PDMF said, I feel it goes against the whole idea of an auction - with the seller hinging his bets on bidding fever and the buyer trying to get a deal.  In the case of Super Auctions, however, it sounds like everyone but the SA folks are going to get screwed somehow, anyway.

[paigeoliver]

I can't say I agree with Superauctions business tactics, but they are pretty much the only game in town, and if they DIDN'T operate the way they did then there would hardly be a thing at the auctions at all.

Those other auction companies who operate more traditionally tend to have MUCH smaller auctions.

[Dartful Dodger]

I was bidding the max I wanted to spend on a cab, which was far less than it was worth, but I didn't have the money to go higher, there was one person bidding against me and when I quit the auctioneer encouraged me to bid one more time.  I was obviously reluctant but I figured what's 10 more dollars and  I ended up winning the auction. 

It didn't hit me until that night.  The auction was back and forth pretty quickly, up until I stopped.  The guy I was bidding against didn't hesitate to bid against me before, but after he knew I was at/above my max and I wouldn't bid again he stopped.

I paid 10 dollars more than I planned on spending, but it's a great cabinet, and I'm happy with it. If it was the seller bidding against me, and he stopped he must have been happy with what he sold it for.

Shill'n makes everyone happy.

[quarterback]

there was one person bidding against me and when I quit the auctioneer encouraged me to bid one more time.

[Crazy Cooter]

Shill'n makes everyone happy.

You got taken to the cleaners IMO.  This whole conversation makes me happy that I don't deal with superauctions.  They should just rename it to supersale if they aren't going to follow how an auction is supposed to work.  It's more like a garage sale without pricetags than an auction.