[Rob D.]

Originally Posted by glchen

To me, the shady part of house bidding, even in the case where it's only meant as a "reserve" is that is seems like it's trying to create the illusion of demand. If you're interested in a lot, and you see numerous bids on it, you might think the item is more highly in demand, and you may need to raise your ceiling bid. Whereas if you were the only bidder in the auction, you might start thinking of that famous quote: "the only thing rare about this item is the number of bidders for it," and therefore bid less.

Well said.