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A lot of people keep calling it shill bidding, but if the auction house divulges that it will place a bid on behalf of the seller then I don't think that is considered a shill bid. If a private individual has his buddy placing a bid on his car, then that is considered a shill bid unless of course his buddy really wants to buy it. I'm not trying to defend anyone here, but it's in plain writing that this is what most reserve auctions do so it should be no surprise.
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Shill bidding was a law created to protect buyers and your words seem to express concerns only for what the sellers and auction house know of and understand?.
If they're both aware of, and agree to the trickery between themselves yet hide behind words crafted to escape the real meanings and understanding of those spending the money, that certainly doesn't make anything right...or fair!.
~ Pete