DON'T GET RIPPED OFF !!!!! Here's an example>>>> A seller is selling an item on ebay at a very low bid (1cent etc). During the auction, the seller becomes worried that his item might sell for less than the amount he or she is hoping to receive. To ensure that no bidder can win the item for less than the price he had in mind. The seller uses another ebay account to place bids on the item, to increase the volume of bidding and raising the price to the level he feels is "fair", A rule of thumb use the buy it now option if possible to be safe, sometimes it's always good to use the buy it now option and pay a bit more. If you want to learn more about shill bidding go to the top of your ebay page , click on the help tab, go to the help bar and type in shill bidding, you will learn all about it. I hope this message helps those who are just starting out buying on ebay. Please Vote on this message so other's can beaware of it thank you...