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Hello 'mccrlmn',
<<... all 'private listing - bidders' identities protected'>>
What you are seeing is a 'private listing', - set up that way by the seller. No matter where you are on ebay
you can always see your own ID if you are signed in. On a private listing everyone else is looks like the
mask you describe.
On a regular listing, all other bidders look like- x...y (### star)
So that, too, is a very good blind, and certainly adequate to satisfy any privacy concerns. You can read about
private listings here:
http://pages.ebay.ca/help/sell/private.html
Even ebay does not recommend it, telling sellers "you should only make your listing private if you have a specific reason."
Whether you believe that "specific reason" is because the seller wants to shill up the auction, . . . . .
The best way to bid on any auction is to place the maximum you are willing to pay, - as late as possible.
If you can watch the count-down at the end of the auction and quickly enter your bid a few seconds before
it ends, that is called "sniping". It is not only fun, it is often the best way to win the auction.
By all means, be a 'nibble bidder' if you like, -- many people have fun that way too. But when you are truly
serious, you may need to resort to sniping, or hire an online service to place your snipe for you. That is usually
only for big-ticket items, however, as it costs money for the service.
Have a look at this link about bidding. It very clearly explains how ebay's automatic bidding works:
http://pages.ebay.ca/help/buy/bidding-overview.html#incremental
It is, sadly, quite true that the seller may be shilling the auction. Shilling, in spite of being officially against
ebay policy, is rampant on ebay and nothing is ever done about it. After all, you yourself would be hard pressed
to prove it, and the higher the shill the more money ebay makes.
Unless the item is 'stolen' and the seller seeks to off-load it as quickly as possible for whatever he can get,
the chief reason for shilling is the seller using a 99 cent start price when in fact she won't take less than, say,
50 bucks. Or even 10 bucks. Somewhere between the start and the end of the auction the seller goes to a
different computer and places the shill. Sometimes they enjoy the game and will nibble you up, thinking they
are fooling you.
But the primary reason is that they do not want to give the item away to you for less than what they believe you
should be paying. They will lose far less money if they win it themselves, cancel, and relist.
Here is the ebay policy about shilling:
http://pages.ebay.ca/help/policies/seller-shill-bidding.html#policy
The policy says " We thoroughly investigate every report we receive", which as any experienced bidder will
tell you, is just about the biggest laugh around. Unless a seller is dumb enough to place the shill on the same
computer he lists the item (same ISP) there is not much ebay can do. And with ebay's new member ID masking
policy it makes it even easier for shillers to fool bidders, which will naturally increase accusations and reports of shilling.
It would be very expensive for ebay to do anything about it. Besides, if ebay ever decided to rid the site of shillers
there would be hardly any sellers left on the site.
Thus, like everything else on ebay, to get the most of your experience you need to first help yourself.
Have a look at the bidding links I provided. When you see an auction item you like, place your bid as late
as possible.
Be sure to factor in the shipping costs, plus any possible duties, taxes, and charges if you are buying out of the country.
And of course, if you are not happy about an auction, don't bid on it. Even if you got the item, you would have
a rotten feeling every time you looked at it, and that's no fun at all.
Always use your own best judgement.
Happy bidding! 
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