Can I bid on my own auction (shill bidding)?

Bidding on your own auction, know as shill bidding, is prohibited on Saturn Place. Shill Bidding is bidding that artificially increases an item’s price or apparent desirability, or bidding by individuals with a level of access to the seller’s item information not available to the general Saturn Place Community. Shill bidding is also illegal in most states.

 

Because family members, roommates, and employees of sellers have a level of access to item information which is not available to the general Saturn Place Community, they are not permitted to bid on items offered by the seller–even if their sole intent is to purchase the item.

 

We request that all employees and family members of sellers are informed about our policy regarding shill bidding.

Violations of this policy may result in a range of actions, including:

·         Listing cancellation

·         Limits on account privileges

·         Account suspension

·         Referral to Law Enforcement

Saturn Place employs various methods to track users to help prevent shill bidding. If you believe that another member is artificially raising the price or desirability of an item by shill bidding please report it to us. Please be sure to provide the user IDs and the item numbers in question.