Internet Auctions.

I'm going into hibernation because the price of Cinderellas has sky-rocketed.
I went after 20 lots today and missed out on them all.
Some folk have bottomless pockets and prices are crazy.

I have added only one item to my British Exhibition collection since last September.

Provincial Stamp Fairs in the UK is where I find my best bargains.

Londonbus1...feeling the pinch.

OK, I live in another almost no-stamp zone and buy most of my material on ebay and have been generally satisfied. I try to be careful about what I acquire. I too would like an explanation of how to recognize shill bidding. Frequently, you will see items where someone has put in about a dozen bids for an item at small increments.

If I notice that happening, I either stay away or, if it's something I really want, I bid my maximum price in the last few seconds to avoid having my bid pushed. Someone once tried to rationalize that bidding style to me but it didn't make any sense.

Popular items and cheap items attract many bidders and it sounds like to me the shill bids are natural bidding. I too would like to know how a person can tell if they have been shill bid.

If I bid with an upper limit I am going to go up a bidding step by the same amount each time someone else bids over the top of me. It is a preset way to bid by using an upper limit.

If you get offered the lot after the auction as a 2nd chance offer it could be a shill bid situation but not for sure.

If the same stamp comes up for sale and you got beaten by a small amount and your bid was a steal could be a shill bid situation but not for sure.

But bidders will bid on and with a favorite seller. So that being a shill bidder is remote as well.

But just to confuse things. I can tell as a seller if someone has a bid on a lot and than changers the bid to have an upper bid limit. But I can not tell by how much.