Bidding on Ebay

[sprayer]

I have just been reading about a bloke who has just been prosecuted for fraud by selling something
on ebay and then bidding on the item (from another computer) himself trying to jack up the price, A
practice which I am told is called "Shill Bidding" .
Now am I missing something? as I would have thought that if the item was any good there would be
lots of people bidding, but if it was not worth bidding on by putting a bid on your own item trying to push
up the price you are likely to end up by buying your own item and having to pay ebay a commission on
it and loosing money. As I have never sold anything on ebay would somebody tell me if this is correct.

[Canary42]

Although there is a risk of "buying" your own item, shill bidding is not uncommon. Most auction sites (online and offline) outlaw it. I wasn't aware it was a criminal offence also.

[sprayer]

Apparently it is, this case was reported in today's Daily Telegraph.

[Bbbananas]

I should jolly well think so. It's criminal. I lost a really nice Laura Ashley duckegg baroque rug in this way.