"I HAVE TO RELIST THIS CHIP AS WINNER DIDNT WANT IT"

To quote our old pal Rene “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA”.

Sometimes I’m amazed how little credit is given to our chip-collecting community by people either looking to make a quick buck or just looking to stir up trouble.

Take a close look at the first auction…

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3279319356&category=899

This auction closed Mar-08-04 12:01:09 PST

Now take a look at this one…

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3279947213

This auction began Mar-08-04 12:11:38 PST

So, the seller means to tell us that within 10 minutes, while the entire United States is sleeping (except for Andy Hughes, of course), the seller contacted the buyer and for some reason the buyer, who had sniped the auction 3 seconds before it ended (10 minutes prior), decided that he didn’t want the chip.

This is mind-boggling.

Taking a closer look, you find that in the first auction…

The seller has a feedback rating of zero

The buyer has a feedback rating of zero

Now, I know there has been some recent discussion concerning shill bidding over on The Strike Point (I don’t collect strikes, but I have to admit, TSP is usually pretty entertaining). I don’t think that it’s been shown one way or another whether shill bidding is illegal in the U.S. or in any particular states (although some feel that it is fraud), but the practice IS explicitly forbidden on eBay.

Most of the time, the detection of shilling is problematic, and I would imagine that proving it is as well. In this instance, however, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see what is going on.

If I were one of the bidders in the first auction, I'd be contacting eBay.