How to identify shill bids in Auction websites?
Hello pros, 

Just want to ask pros here. How to identify shill bids in online auction websites (Ten-X, [Auction.com](https://Auction.com), Xome etc)?  

Thanks.
[{"id": "fr8qknl", "text": "I think some real estate auction platforms require a refundable deposit of some funds to show bidders are legit.", "replies": [{"id": "g9nsjs2", "text": "But there is nothing to stop Ten-X from doing their own fake bids right up the reserve number, which you cannot see.  I've watched so many auctions go right up to \\~$59 a square foot then stop, as if someone was bidding it right up to the \"reserve\" AKA the $60/SF price which is really the listing price the seller wanted.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fr8sp3x", "text": "Shill bids are irrelevant in auctions.\n\nDecide your max price.\n\nBid it.\n\nNothing anybody else does will matter. You either win at a price you were comfortable with or you lose.\n\nMaybe if there were no shill bids you could have gotten a lower price - but you still got it at the price you were willing to pay.  If that price bothers you after the fact, then you should have bid lower to begin with.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fr8usmv", "text": "I don't know about other sites, but auction.com will put \"Counter Bid\" in small text below the bid amount when they essentially bid against everyone else to get the price up closer to the reserve.  It will only be visible when the counter bid is the active high bid, once someone bids against the bank you won't see the \"counter bid\" in the bid history or anywhere else.\n\nAlso their website says in bold \"the exposure of counterbids is not required in every state\"  so its possible my state (Ohio) requires them to do this.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fr9419o", "text": "Ok so here\u2019s what happens behind the scenes - the guy at Ten-X is live with the seller. If a bid gets posted with 1 minute left it extends the end of the auction by 2 minutes. If you start seeing a lot of active bids \u201cinside the window\u201d more likely than not the seller thinks he has a live one and is bidding you up to the reserve price. I\u2019ve nailed a ton of people on this, bidders have no idea that the seller is fishing them up.", "replies": [{"id": "fr9616v", "text": "Thanks. I would rather see circular relist than fake \"bids\" from the house.", "replies": [{"id": "frjki3r", "text": "Yep, but that\u2019s how it works if you think there\u2019s some juice. I\u2019ve only done the shill bid thing a few times, most of the time I\u2019ve gotten REO to clear our reserve on its own.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "fr9xepx", "text": "1. Why does it matter? 2. What do you mean by shill?\n\nif they are not legitimate bids, and they're identifiable by us that means they're identifying a bow by the auction website and if they're not taking them down that means they don't care about them so it's irrelevant.\n\nthere's a difference between the actual auction website goosing the auctions, or the seller putting in fake bids to boost the price, or other buyers putting in fake bids to try to get you to pay more. They're all fake to some degree but they're very different in reality. but still not stuff to be that concerned about. The bid is the bid regardless of the intent.", "replies": [{"id": "frjkmfp", "text": "The only person who puts in a fake bid is the house - another seller wouldn\u2019t do that given that you need to show proof of funds and place a non-refundable deposit prior to the bid. You\u2019d have to have pretty big balls to bid someone else up for fun unless you intended to own it at that price.", "replies": [{"id": "frk6rt6", "text": "I don't often do online actions. But I buy at county sheriff sales. We have to deposit 10% the day of bidding and pay 100% by the next day.\n\nWe bid up properties we don't want all the time to fuck with other people or just make our competitors pay more.\n\nI have no doubt it works the same online.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]