Whatnot says shill bidding on its platform dropped nearly 80% in six months, alongside a 45% fall in user reports and a fivefold rise in the signals it uses to flag suspicious activity. Shill bidding is fake bidding by a seller or an associate, with no intent to buy, run up to push the price higher on real customers. The live shopping marketplace credits a Trust and Safety team that doubled over the past year and now studies account links, device data, bidding patterns, and odd cancellations. Whatnot gave no underlying totals and didn’t define whether the 80% covers bids, auctions, accounts, or sellers, which limits what outsiders can conclude, per Liz Morton at Value Added Resource. The update comes while Whatnot fights arbitration claims from buyers who say its randomized card breaks amount to illegal gambling.
