I agree with your opinion Pete. I too am an active seller and buyer. Some of the people commenting are niether. I like as much information as possible. Shill bidding is a problem on ebay. When I see many transactions going back and forth between bidders I get suspicious. Yes, initial ebay purchases or sales have developed many trades for me. However, I can't imagine a couple of traders saying "OK, You put those 10 chips up for auction and I will put my 10 chips up for auction and we can bid on each others chips and both get to pay ebay fees!" If everything is legit, just trade for chips.

Imagine, the squacking if a couple of guys got together to shill bid at the convention auction.

A CONFESSION: I once conspired with a friend to shill bid for me. I had placed a chip up for auction. All my auctions are No Reserve auctions. My opening bid is my "reserve". I had put a chip up for auction that I was going to put a minimum bid of $20 on. I forgot to do that so my minimum bid was 1¢. I conspired with a friend that if needed he was going to place a $20 bid to protect my investment. The chips went for $42.50 so the shill bid was not needed or placed. There I feel better!!!