I'm biding against a private listing bidders identity protected

[doug.scott2015]

I have made several bids against item i would like to have and everytime i place a bid, not a few seconds later, I am out bid.

It is always a Private Listing Bidder, Bidders identity protected, bidder but when i stop bidding they stop.

The item has sat there for hrs and even days with no bids then i place a bid and again i am hit with a out bid again, by same private listing bidder.

This happens mostly on item from Asia (ex:China).

Is this Shill bidding, or is going on,I gave up on a lot of items

I think the seller is bidding on there own item to drive up the price.

If it is shill bidding, how can i report this.

[reallynicestamps]

Nope, it's probably not shill bidding.

Only you and the seller can see your ID.

All other IDs are invisible to anyone but themselves and the seller.

This allows the seller to cancel unwanted bids. There are many reasons a seller might do this.

Here is how proxy bidding works.

An item opens at $10.

You like it and bid $10. It opens to you at $10.

I like it and bid $100. It is now mine at $11.

(I really really like it, obviously)

You raise your bid to $12. My bid rises automatically to $13.

So you continue to bid a dollar at a time, until my bid is all of $50.

Still half of what I am willing to pay, so I am happy.

At the very last second Fred jumps in with a bid of $150 (cause he's nuts, no way is it worth that much.)

Fred wins at $101-  one increment more than I am willing to pay.

So.

Bid once.

Bid your maximum.

And probably bid late.

A 'shill' bidder never wins. He wants you to win at the highest price he can force you to.  Shill bidders will also sometimes drop out of bidding when they are winning.

A shilled bid would look like this:

An item opens at $10.

You like it and bid $100. It opens to you at $10.

Someone wants to shill it and bids $11.

The bid stays with you at $12.

The shiller bids $25. It stays with you at $26.

Now the shiller knows you have a strong hidden maximum.

He bids $75. You are now in for $76.

He bids $100. It stays with you at $100 (your maximum)

Now he knows your max is $100 , because there was no rise and because the first bidder wins a tie, he stops bidding.

And you win, at your maximum.