[Jeff H]

Personally, I don't see it as shill bidding if you really are looking to buy something and have the money and place a bid for the amount you're willing to pay for it. It doesn't matter if it's a friend or complete stranger. The problem arises when you know what the reserve is and know that you bid won't meet the reserve. Most people decide to not even bother placing a bid. There's nothing wrong with placing a bid when you know it won't meet the reserve. What happens if the seller decides he needs to move it now and drops the reserve? You could suddenly become the high bidder and it's completely legit. There's definitely shill bidding going on with Ebay, but regardless of that, you have to decide what you're willing to pay for something and place your bid and stick to it. Don't base the items value on what other people bid.