Archie,

Let's say there is item up for auction with a minimum bid of $5 and no current bids. I am willing to pay $10 for the item and no more, so I bid $10 and the item shows a current bid of $5. Now a shill bidder comes along and bids $9.99. I will still be the higher bidder at $10. I will get the item at $10. But, because of the shill bidder, I paid $5 more than I could have. In my opinion, even though I got the item at a price I wanted to pay, I still paid $5 more than I should have. The shill bidder is doing damage.