mlmack

A sniper is someone who places their bid at the last possible moment before the auction ends, in an attempt to ensure that no one has time to place a competing bid.

quiltingcandy

I wondered about that too - because you can see who is bidding, not the entire name but enough to believe that is the same party increasing the bid every so often to make it appear that it is going up and a lot of people are interested. My folks used to go to art auctions all the time and they made sure they knew the various artists and regulars so when they bid it was against other buyers and not someone trying to just up the value. One time I was bidding on a picture and my dad suddenly stopped me said not to bid anymore. Since he knew what he was talking about, I stopped. So did the bidding, after it was over, the person came over and asked it I was still interested in the picture for my last bid, my dad told him no. We walked away and my dad told me the guy was a broker and was just upping the bid.

Once they had an artist do that to them, when they found out they never bought another picture or sculpture from that artist again and warned others about the auctioneers.

They are allowed to put reserves on items but this can turn people off more than thinking they are buying something someone else wants.

tenngal

I've bought several from Goodwill online and our local Craigslist and had very good luck. I clean them up and add what attachments I can find and resell them. Most just need a little TLC. I only resell locally in the middle TN area, though because I don't want to ship.

Rodney

What mlmack said.
I'll freely admit I snipe. I don't like spending more than I have to. I'll also say sometimes I get out-sniped.
I don't use them but I've seen there are actually programs you can get that will do the bidding for you too. Give yourself a max amount you're willing to pay and stick with it no matter what your bidding methods are. The others were right, there are more than just shills to look out for. Dealers in whatever you're buying whether its art, cars, or something else will often bid just to keep prices up-another shady practice in my opinion.
Rodney