How to distinguish the trustees in the domain name auction?

The phenomenon of "shill bidding" may have existed since the birth of the auction industry, especially in the domain name circle, where using a shill to inflate the auction price of a domain name has long been an open secret. Due to the anonymity of individuals online, it's challenging to determine if there are shills among the bidders. Novices are particularly vulnerable to falling victim to shill bidding, often paying significantly more than they should to secure a desired domain name, resulting in substantial losses.

To be honest, I don't usually participate in auctions, but I do keep an eye on market trends and frequently observe the dynamics of domain name auctions. Watching high-quality domain names go up for auction can be even more thrilling than watching a blockbuster movie. It's wave after wave of bidding, and you might even find yourself more nervous than the actual bidders. However, it's possible that some of these bidders are actually shills. Based on my observations, I've identified some common behaviors of shills:

1. When the domain name price seems outrageously high, the likelihood of shill bidding is greater than 70%. Market prices for each type of domain name are generally stable. For example, 2-digit domains are usually more expensive than 3-digit ones. So if a 3-digit domain name sells for more than a 2-digit domain with the same extension, it's likely manipulated.

2. If only two or three IDs are continuously bidding throughout the entire auction, the likelihood of shill bidding is greater than 80%. This tactic is quite crude. With so few bidders, you can simply wait until the last moment to bid. Why rush?

3. If the auction starts with a bid that reaches a certain price, and then there are several days with no further bids, the likelihood of shill bidding is greater than 60%. The shill has pushed the price to their cost, and now they can wait for anyone interested to bid in the remaining time. It's a kind of insurance.

4. If the auction is about to end, and suddenly there are new bids with just 10 seconds remaining, extending the auction by 5 minutes, and then the same pattern repeats several times, the likelihood of shill bidding is greater than 90%. In reality, it's the shill bidding against themselves. If the auction hasn't reached the expected price, what can they do? Use a shill to win it. The auction is an excellent advertising opportunity, as every bid gains them nearly 5 minutes of attention. I once had the pleasure of watching such a performance for half an hour until the auction finally ended.

Determining whether an auction has shill bidding or not is not a straightforward task. Well-concealed shills are difficult to detect. In my experience, higher-priced domain names are more likely to attract shills. Shops that frequently conduct auctions are less likely to employ shills, as damaging their reputation could hurt their future business prospects.