Why is shill bidding so bad?

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Posted By: Cy 

I would like to pose a question to the board. Many times I have seen posts that blast people for possible shill bidding. Why is shill bidding so bad? I mean all that is happening is that one guy is bidding up the price of an auction so that his friend can win a larger financial gain. What could be so wrong with a friend helping out another friend?

It happenes in other areas of auctions, doesn't it? How many times have we heard people ask their friends not to bid on an auction because the person really wants the lot and doesn't want to pay a premium price for it. And no one even blinks. It happens on this message board a fair number of times. I imagine it is happening right now with Lipset's and Sloate's auctions nearing their close. Isn't this the same thing? Isn't one person altering an auction and helping out a buddy financially, even though the friend may want to bid on the lot himself? Do you think Lew Lipset or Barry Sloate are thrilled to read that people are trying to minimize the price of one or many of their auctions through collusion?

So let me pose the question again. If it is perfectly OK to tell a friend NOT to bid on an auction so that one can buy an auction lot at a substantially cheaper price, why is it so bad to ask a friend to bid up his auction so he can make a little more money on his sale.

To me it's the same thing. Someone is asking another to alter the auction for financial gain.

Sincerely,

Cy