Pushes prices up but rarely wins

Checked in store reports. This pattern only appears across many of a store’s auctions, so a single listing can’t show it. Susbid checks it once enough people have checked a store’s auctions: look up a store.

What it looks like on eBay

• The same masked bidder is often the runner-up in one seller’s auctions, but never the winner.

Why it counts

Raising the price without winning is the point of a fake bid. Low win rates alone are common among ordinary bidders, though, so this counts only together with repeated appearances at one store.

Innocent explanations

A present sign is a reason to look closer, not a conclusion. Common innocent reasons for this one:

• Bargain hunters set low maximum bids on many items and rarely win.
• A collector may keep getting outbid on a popular store’s best items.

Check it yourself

1. Across several of the seller’s completed auctions, note who won and who came second.
2. Look for a masked bidder who is often near the top and never wins.

Read more about shill bidding and how to spot it, or see how Susbid decides a sign is present.