Archie

I have reported someone for the same thing. If you imagine (as in my case) that you were the only bidder on an item starting at $5 (although you were prepared to go to $20), then you would have won the item for $5. If a shill bid is made of $15, then you still win but now pay $15.50, thus paying another $10.50.

I believe that some (very dodgy) sellers will put in a veryh igh shill bid. If in this case their bid sits at $21, then they know you have bid $20. They then cancel the shill bid and enter a new shill bid of $19.50, pushing you up to your $20 maximum. You win, but pay more that you would have done if everything had been conducted fairly. I haven't been involved (I hope) in this scenario, but have seen it reported in an article on Ebay.

Regards

Jason