wrote:

There was no confusion in the inquiry. Even though my maximum bid
was 4% over the reserve price, if the shill bidding was not there,
my bid would come in at $121, $1 over the genuine bidding and well
under the reserve price. NO ONE won that item.

I think you're wrong about that. If your bid is lower than the reserve
then, yes, it will come out at just over the next highest bidder. But if
you break the reserve then it will come out at just higher than the reserve.

At least, I think that's the case; there doesn't seem much point in
there being a reserve if someone - like you - can meet it and still not
win the item. You could check this on alt.marketing.ebay.

I've expected all biddings should be done with honesty. Would you
expect the same in the virtual world ?

That's a different matter. You could check the bidding on other items by
this seller, to see if there's a pattern, but shill bidding is hard to
prove and (unless things have changed recently) eBay isn't that hot on
chasing up possible abuses.

I don't suppose you'll buy from that seller again, feeling as you do,
and you might not want to give positive feedback, but you valued the
item at $300+ and it seems only reasonable that, having bid on it and
won it, you now go ahead and pay for it.

John
http://rarebooksinjapan.org