Just out of curiosity, if you get a collectible at a price you are happy with, then why is it nonsense? Shill bid (or non approved reserve or protection bid) or not, if your happy with the price for a rare peice what's the issue?
If eBay was a real auction, it then you couldn't steal it at then end with a snipe bid with everyone tossing in the real bids. I've seen stuff jump $700 plus with 2 seconds to go, if it was a real auction the auctioneer would then give others a chance to bid again! Not say, sold!
Tim,
I don't disagree with you if I am bidding against people who are really interested in buying the item. A couple of years ago, I along with several other members were bidding against each other on a Stoner Junior with Gum/Mint Wheel. I knew what my limit was and I knew I was bidding against other interested parties who intended to buy if they won the bid. In that case the bids did jump back and forth right to the very end and I believe it was ducatihammer who got the machine and did a great restoration on it.
When you have a seller or his shill intentionally running up the bid on an item that clearly does not have the same number of interested parties, I have a problem with that because they are artificially inflating the price of the item and manipulating the auction. Not to mention violating the rules that EBay sets forth in the user agreement. You don't see the owners of Barrett-Jackson placing false bids on the vehicles they are trying to auction just to run up the price. If they did nobody would be interested in buying items at their auction. In any event, it looks like the shill got out-foxed by Curtis and I am happy to see that happen every now and then. The seller probably looks like this
right now because the couple of legitimate bidders who might have been interested in paying a fair price for the item can very clearly see that he or someone he knew manipulated the auction. And now in the immortal words of Willy Wonka, "You get nothing, you lose! Good day, Sir!"
Tim