Fraud buying expensive watches and jewelry

Buying expensive watches and jewelry in a free auction : you may be victim of fraud, and price manipulation know as shill bidding (bidding on own items, setting hidden reserve and running price up) Here I have a tips from my huge experience as a seller, how to check sellers feedback and pay correct and good price. Real free auction (no tricks) - is a great way to save money and pay correct market price. Go ahead, but check you seller carefully!
This guide is how to check feedback only. If you like guide, I will add much more important tips for buying. Feedback is very important, but not everything.

1. Checking sellers feedback:

- Avoid hidden sales, privet feedback and privet sales. If someone making it shady - he has a reason for that. Good guys having nothing to hide.

- Consistent feedback. Not likely that someone selling used jeans and $15k watch same time. Sellers for $$$ items are not regular persons. They buying, selling very special type of items. Good "friends" of expensive watches are golf clubs, expensive pens, collectables, gold coins, knifes, expensive bags and shoes. No likely, that someone will try to get $5 profit from used PSP game - and sell $20k watch. Rich peoples are busy - not spending time for $20 items.

- Consistent activity over time : not likely, that someone 'sleeping 'for 2 years, then selling lot of $$$ items. Usually peoples having same activity over time, same type of items.

- Check buyers of you seller (feedback as seller) : if you recognize someone with very special and good feedback, probably it is real. "tell me why you buyers and I will tell you why you are"

- Check sellers of you seller (feedback as buyer). Rich person, selling $20k watch may buy PSP for kid, but will not buy used $10 shirt.

- Check feedback left by you seller to others. You will learn something about sellers personality, and some "hidden" auctions (not any buyer posing feedback after purchase)

- Check feedback "density" . Not likely, that someone having sold 10 watches every week, 40 watches per month (free auction), but getting only only 10 feedback per month. Not every buyer posting feedback - but most of then do. 60-80% of buyers posting feedback, that mean if you sell 40 watches in a month - you should have 30 feedback monthly. If you seller having only 10 feedbacks from 40 sales - he probably using shill bidding to inflate the price and not interesting to show "shill" buyers in his feedback. Pay attention : most buyers are unique, good sellers having repeating buyers, but it will be not strange zero feedback guys, "buying" $$$ watches more and more.

- Look at the currency and feedback language : Not likely that someone having 99% of feedback in German, selling lot of $$$ watches in US. Not likely, if seller selling 2 years in Euro, will start selling in dollars.

- Feedback style and language : Pay attention - if you seller selling worldwide, at least 50% buyers (for $$$ watches) will be from outside US. Strange, if most feedback coming from US : possibly those are shill buyers.Real buyers are very different : feedback should be different in language and style. Same style "this is best seller, will buy more and more!" - looks me strange.