Player or pattern?

[Lukrez]

 Quite by chance, I noticed a recurring pattern over the past weeks while casually browsing several Nihontō listings on Aoi Japan. I thought I’d mention it here simply as an observation and for general discussion — without any accusation intended.

The same bidder shows up in a large number of these auctions and is often involved in incremental bids that help move prices upward.

There may of course be perfectly legitimate reasons for this, such as a very active collector with broad or overlapping interests. Still, the consistency of the pattern caught my eye.

For clarity, I should add that I’ve never purchased anything through Aoi and don’t plan to. I’m sharing this merely as a general point of awareness for potential buyers who are actively considering purchasing through Aoi 😉

Edited January 9 by Lukrez

[Brian]

Pretty sure shilling is a standard practice in Japan on most auctions. Not nice...but more accepted there for some reason.

[Matsunoki]

42 minutes ago, Brian said:

shipping

? Shill bidding? 
haven’t heard it called shipping! 
The perils of auctions. Very dishonourable if suspicions are accurate…..but not surprising. 

[eternal_newbie]

1 hour ago, Lukrez said:

There may of course be perfectly legitimate reasons for this, such as a very active collector with broad or overlapping interests.

 

Also folks who go in with a relatively low bid, knowing they can probably resell at enough of a premium to make the profit worthwhile on any items they win by default. The kinds of folk who show up on eBay/Yahoo with a bunch of eclectic blades with very different photography styles.

[Lewis B]

"mrtierney50" is making my spidey senses tingle. 

[Brian]

Ugh....typo. Edited to shilling. Autocorrupt.

[nulldevice]

You can call in bids for Aoi and they can bid on your behalf. I've known some people who have done this who usually are repeat customers who know Mr. Tsuruta and have bought from him in the past and don't want to/can't bid themselves. 

 

There may also be shill bidding I can't comment on that. I just know someone really wanted a juyo blade a while back while they were at a show and travelling but called in and told them "I want X blade and I'll pay ____JPY for it". Beyond that I don't know how things went down.

[atm]

2 hours ago, Lewis B said:

"mrtierney50" is making my spidey senses tingle. 

 

Anything is possible, but if that is a shill bidder, it would not make much sense for that bidder to be the first bidder on less desireable items that may not draw other bids. Now if the auction closes with only mrtierney50's bid, and the item gets relisted for sale on Aoi's website, then you might have a case to make.

 

Internet auctions can be unpredictable and participant intentions are unknown. We hope that everyone is participating in good faith, but that simply isn't always reality. There are shills, of course. Some people participate with no intention of winning the item--they like being part of the game and drive up the cost without collusion. Some get carried away and bid well more than something is worth due to competitiveness. Yet others win auctions with no intention of paying. All very frustrating to legit, rational bidders.

[Rawa]

5 hours ago, Lewis B said:

"mrtierney50" is making my spidey senses tingle. 

In many of those auctions he is first bidder. Dunno how many he won but it’s easy to change name at aoi so why shill would work under same name?

He looked like collector.