There is as a lot of buzz about shill bidders on the eBay forums. But in actuality, shrill bidding isn’t that common and is rather easily detected.

A buyer will sometimes attempt to use shill building to raise the price of merchandise he is selling. The idea is that the shiller will bid increasingly high prices, in the hope that legitimate buyers like you will top the artificially high prices in an effort to win the goodies for sale.

Here are five ways you can recognize a shill bidder:

1. Few shill bidders will have any feedback. This is because they never follow through with transactions and therefore don’t have anyone to leave feedback. If the shiller does have legitimate transactions on ebay, he is usually smart enough to use a separate ID, because he does not want to get caught shilling and lose all buying and selling privileges.

{It is important to note, however, that just because a bidder has no feedback that does not mean that he is necessarily a shrill bidder. This may simply be a new account that has not had time to build a feedback reputation.}

2. Generally, a shiller only bids on the auctions of a particular seller. When in doubt, you can check the current and completed options of a seller and see if this shiller has bid on other auctions by the same seller.

3. Shill bidders are most often newbies. You can check the feedback, and the date that the eBay account was created, for any ebay member. If the bidder’s account was created two days ago and he is bidding on several auctions of the same seller, you can be pretty certain about what is going on.

4. eBay has ways of the tracking shillers. Of course we don’t know everything they do (and if I did know I wouldn’t tell!) but some clues all are dead giveaways. For example, if the seller and the bidder have the same IP address, eBay knows to take a closer look.

5. Shill bidders retract many more bids than normal buyers. eBay does allow any buyer to retract a bid, although this is only supposed to occur for specific reasons. But in actuality, a retraction is rarely challenged and ultimately what can eBay do? It cannot force a person to pay for a particular item.

It is wise not to use this option on a frequent basis. Remember that your eBay behavior deal is constantly tracked. A retraction is considered to be a “black mark” on your reputation so don’t do it very often. Shillers, on the other hand, don’t care because they’re unconcerned about their reputation. If caught, they simply open a new account.

Sometimes a shiller is the high bidder at the end of an auction. In that that case, the seller and buyer can agree to cancel the bid, rather than retract it. However, all this takes a lot of work, planning and effort. In the end, shill bidding is rarely worth the trouble and time. Instead, smart sellers spend their time finding products and writing listings - the two basic moneymaking activities of an ebay business - instead of plotting how to raise profits on individual listings. Success in business is about efficiency.

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Buying a home through online auction? I was scared out of my wits when I first heard about it. But gradually it dawned on me that it is not that difficult a task, as most people believe it is.

My research in online auction business in general and buying homes at online auctions in particular has resulted in innumerable points, I thought would be beneficial, if I could share with you all.

The new millennium ushered in technology at our doorstep making life comfortable to live. And to live we all need a home. With the advancement of technology, real estate business or property buying and selling over the years has undergone a dramatic change with at the click of the mouse you can see amazing homes around the country. What more, homes like any other household products are available at online auctions. The popularity of buying homes at online auctions has grown to such proportions that more and more homebuyers than ever before are buying homes at auction.

Buying a home is a tedious task, more so when it’s done at online auction. But with some meticulous planning and carefulness you could well end up buying one, which could save a lot of money, time and effort.

First and foremost, before the auction, you need to know your budget and have it in your bank account ready. Then come the location, size, and condition. It’s important to check the ownership history of the proposed home. Making comparison is a great idea, compare the cost involved with similar homes in the area, the number of rooms. Also look into the price difference due to decks, carpeting, windows and treatments.

Probably you won’t be able to make an inspection, perhaps buying home ‘as is’. If the repairs work or can’t hire it done within budget, you may not end up getting a good bargain at the end. This needs to be remembered.

And finally when you make it to auction, don’t succumb to temptations in the ‘bid war’. Stay within your budget limits. Remember you came to buy a home and make savings not to ‘defeat the other guy at bidding’. If you are not successful this time, there is always a next home next time.

Prior to actually bidding for a home at, make a check list of all the cost details including loan balance (if foreclosed), any back taxes owned, legal fee and other expenses in foreclosing the proposed property. This helps you get the facts right and know exactly the total costs involved.

Be careful and with proper planning, you could well end up getting your ‘Dream Home’ and make great savings.

Pradeep Aggarwal is the creator of Auction Spectrum the online auction hub. This site is dedicated to helping people start and run a successful online auction business by providing Internet Marketing Tools to build profit making websites.