"First of all, you don't know for sure that a shill bidder was involved."

I agreed with Mike's 'hypothetical scenario' 100 percent.

"Secondly, you bid "X" for an item that you wanted ... whether a shill bidder was involved or not ... and you got exactly what you wanted for the price you were willing to pay."

That is very true, Archie. However, the bottom line is that the high bidder paid more for the item (based on Mike's hypothetical scenario) because the shill bidder was involved. It sounds like that works for you.