... any bidder acting on behalf of a seller, including the seller himself, who makes a bid on the seller's auction for the purpose of raising the price which is ultimately paid for the item. Particularly so if the fact of the seller's self-bidding is unknown to the buyers.

By that definition, of course, the club auction permits shill bidding. As I said elsewhere, the fact that the published rules do not prohibit shill bidding certainly implies that it is permitted in any event.

BTW, I participated in last year's auction (part of it anyway) and made three non-winning bids. I did not know that consignors could bid on their own lots.

As I have also said elsewhere, I have no problem with this, as the only thing I think is significant is how much I'm willing to spend -- if I can buy at that level or lower, I will bid. If not, I won't. Doesn't much matter how the price gets to that level.

----- jim o\-S