Though I would never introduce a shill in any of my
auctions, and I also agree with you that a shill and
a reserve is of no harm to a bidder...especially if
the bidder has self control; being able to set a
limit, and knows slightly something about what he's
bidding on (the market) in order to determine how
much he is willing to pay for the item....I ask
myself why do you refuse to bid on reserve auctions
and also reach the point of admitting that you
actually ask the seller what his reserve is and
state you won't bid if he doesn't tell you?
I feel (and I assume you do, too, based on your
answers to your questions) that a bidder can stop
bidding whenever he wishes. Am I not correct...or
is their a certain amount of fear involved
with maybe a bidder not knowing himself. I just can't understand why some people have the fear
of a reserve auction. Personally, I'd jump right
into any auction if there was something there of
interest to me...even if I knew there was a shill or two. I wouldn't even be wasting my time as some suggest. I would simply read the description; research; think a bit; bid; walk away. and take a look at the results when it's all over.

BTW -- I didn't enjoy the thread one bit.

JB