Defining Shill Bidding on eBay and Why It’s Wrong eBay is an online auction site that allows individuals to both purchase and offer different items for sale within the auction format. However, as with almost all activities concerning money and goods, there are some people that try to exploit the system. Shill bidding is one way in which individuals attempt to cheat the system. Over the course of its existence, there have been many people that have either been users and proponents of shill bidding or who have been victims of the unfair practice. In general, shill bidding is the exploitation of bidding within the online world in order to increase the income an individual will receive for the sale of an item or good. On the eBay auction website, there are different products that an individual can purchase. Some of these items are new, and others are used. However, the point of the auctions is to provide the consumer with a good at a discounted price while enabling the seller to make some sort of income, either surplus or enough to break even. These are the goals of the auction site. Obviously, this cannot be performed to the satisfaction of everyone involved one hundred percent of the time. There are instances in which an individual purchases the wrong item by mistake, or purchases a used item that they thought was new. Some instances of problems also would include a seller not making enough money to cover the cost of the sold item, or a seller being stiffed by the winning bidder. However, instead of using legitimate and successful ways to solve these problems, some people have resorted to less admirable and moral means. When individuals perform shill bidding on eBay, they are bidding on their own item in order to inflate the price that they are owed in the sale of the item. If there is interest in a particular item, the seller may create a separate account or they may use a separate account that they already have created in order to get into a bidding war with the individual or individuals that are legitimately interested in the item. In the end, if the seller’s alter-ego wins the bid, there is not any damage to them since they will not have to actually ship out the item. Instead, they can offer the losing bidder a second chance offer. This occurs when the seller sends a message to the other bidder or bidders in which the item is offered to them for the highest price that they bid during the auction. Sometimes there are legitimate reasons for second chance offers to be given to other bidders, but other times this process, too, is exploited by greedy individuals. If this is the case, then the bidder may end up paying much more than they would have originally paid for the item if the seller did not try to inflate the price. Officially, eBay’s stance on shill bidding is that it is reprehensible and will not be tolerated within the online community. However, as with most scams, it can be difficult to enforce this all of the time. There have been some high profile instances where individuals were exposed to have taken part in this behavior. It can be prosecuted in a court of law, since shill bidding is illegal in most areas in the United States and in some areas worldwide. It is important that individuals make themselves educated and aware about shill bidding in order to make sure that they stay within the confines of the law as well as to be able to avoid scams on eBay. On the whole, eBay is a great and functional site,
and it is important not to let the minority ruin the good times for those who stay within the limits of jurisdictional and moral allowances.