http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dl ... ORS%3A1123

Well, I think that my FADA 790 is worth at least this much, but this is still crazy. (and I paid far, far less than this for my own)
Some of you may know more about this seller and have some insight- I see most of their stuff is similarly high priced. I wrote the seller to ask what "servicing" had been done, and they never replied. And the bid history looks strange. Honest question- what is shill bidding? Is this what I'm possibly looking at?

It looks to me like two idiots in a bidding war for a radio worth way less than the winning bid. It also looks like the winner wanted it bad enough to overbid himself multiple times. Overbidding is pretty much something that only really dumb bidders do, but then sometimes it's hard to tell stupidity from shilling. Personally I think there are a lot more stupid eBayers than shillers.

Bob

I like this part.

"Extremely well preserved and all original... Comes fully serviced. "

A 1948 radio if "fully serviced" would likely no longer be "all original" unless fully serviced amounts to no more than blowing out the dust.

Curtis Eickerman

Wow! Wish I had seen this earlier. I own several 790's that are probably in better condition and I'd be dancing in the streets to get half that much. Must be something in the water in Harrisburg.

"No chips, cracks, or damage. "

I dont know, but if you zoom in on pic#2 the top left front corner seems to have some damage to me.

I just bought one of these same radios last week for FAR less then this price. Mine is really beautiful but if I could get this price, the thing would be gone in a flash!

Joe

$650, Wow Wee Batt Man !
P.

It is a nice radio, isn't it Joe? But yes, I paid less than one/sixth that price for mine.
I told my very patient girlfriend about this auction and she said with a smile "well, that's what they are worth, isn't it?"

How come I never get two idiots like i***5 and i***g bidding on my stuff?

Yup, i***5 made good and sure he was gonna win that radio, once he topped his rival. I notice his bids had been at $10 increases for the most part, so the ten further bids after he got on top, at 10 bucks each, means he would have been willing to spend $750 if need be.

i wish i could contact the loser and sell him mine!!
lol
joe

We still never answered the original posters question, what is shill bidding? The reason I bring it up is because I have no clue myself what it is. Any help from the ebay pros on this forum?
Joe

Shill bidding is getting your buddy (or doing it yourself with an alternate ID), to bid against other people to increase the value. The shill is working for the seller and has no intention of winning, but is just trying to increase the final value of the auction. In other words its a con-game.

Curtis Eickerman

Thanks.
I guess it's hard to say if this was shill bidding or just two overly enthusiastic buyers on this one.

This is one, if not the only reason eBay started disguising bidder's ID's. A sale after the auction to the second bidder and outside of eBay deprives them of a commission fee.

Another reason is that a lot of scammers would contact the losing bidders trying to offer them items that didn't actually exist. This was quite common in my early years on eBay.

ahhh, so i learned what shill bidding is today. I wonder how many times ive been a victim of that? I guess i'll never know.
Joe