Lets say I am a interested party on an ebay auction item, I also may find myself trying to understand the behavior of certain types of competitive bidders during the course of the auction, and what constitutes a fair auction to all interested parties. So most people know that if you are serious and want an item, you will be there at the close or make use of Sniping software. You could just put in your max bid before the close , but if you are a Buyer why draw attention to it beforehand?

So I understand ebay newbie behavior where they will just put up a bid early for whatever reason. I also know that sometimes other Sellers will bump up another Sellers listing by throwing in a supportive bid here and there if you will. It has even happened to me as a Seller Example-- I was selling some cookware on a few no/low reserve auctions and a couple established Sellers without my influence whatsoever, threw a couple bids into the mix. I didn't mind it, and I think they may have just bid bumped me a little, to be supportive of another Seller in their respective niche.

So the main type of bidding behavior I don't understand and even question a little bit, is the incremental bidder. You all know the one bidder I am talking about (It happens all the time on ebay) the one that will put in like 8+ lookie loo bids for some reason on an item. I understand that ebay newbies get a pass here, but I am not always thinking a rookie is behind this incremental bidding behavior. eBAY is a vast SEA and Sellers want exposure and number of bids attract attention to searching potential Buyers. This type of behavior to me, if it is not coming from a genuine interested party, is stretching the limits of what constitutes a fair auction IMO. What does everyone else think?