Question On Ebay Bidder

As I have noted in other threads, I am relatively new to ebay and have read a few threads about the possibility of shill bidders. There is an item I am particularly interested in that is ending soon and has had ten bids on it. The current winning bidder only started bidding a short while ago. His bidding history shows over 140 bids on over 70 items, all of them with the same seller. He shows no bid retractions and has won 25 of the last 30 auctions with this seller, usually with only one bid.

I am in mind what I would like to pay for this item, regardless of whether there's a shill or other legit bidders, so I'm not concerned about being pushed to a level I'm not comfortable with, but I don't like being pushed by a shill as opposed to a legit competitor.

Any thoughts from you more experienced eBayers as to whether this pattern is suspect, as opposed to it just being a buyer that happens to like this seller's stuff? It's all speculation, but I would be interested in learning some insights from the experts.

Thank you.

you cant tell for sure because some people like certain sellers, basicly never bid more than you are willing to pay and if you think its a problem dont bid on that sellers items. There isnt many things on ebay that you cant find more of and people who do that are going to pay ebay alot of fees. The way to know for sure is are the exact same items getting relisted after they sell?

Oracle,

Sounds suspicious. I'd be curious to know, as regards "the 140 bids for 70 items", if the bids were made when the auctions were "ending soon" like this one is. If you've done your homework, then you should know how high to go.

Jack Kelley

Thanks for your comments. I now notice that thie list of bids shows this bidder topping a bid from someone else by a buck and then immediately shows another bid from the same person $10 higher than his own bid with no other bid in between. Does ebay not show all bids? I have the setting at showing all automatic bids. Anyone have an inkling as to what's going on?

he may have made multiple bids earlier

as a seller I have several bidders coming into my store and bidding daily. Some of these guys win tons of items from me, nothing unusual with over 140 bids on over 70 items for a bidder. It just means he likes that seller. A lot of bidders these days stick with a few sellers they trust & don't look elsewhere.