MEARS Auctions Shill Bidding Experiment
 

Interesting experiment MEARS performed during last month's auction:
http://www.mearsonline.com/news/newsDetail.asp?id=758

While the point they are making about the cost of shill bidding is sound, the experiment didn't really meet it out - the only bidder who bid above the previous high was a new bidder who hadn't bid before. It seems as though they decided what the conclusions would be before they ran the experiment and when the experiment didn't exactly have the desired result, they ran the article anyway.

I agree... In the article, they identify their own Mears Bid as the winning bid amount. In reality, it should have been the bid below that (from an actual bidder), which was not dramatically different from the previous auction, in which it failed to meet reserve.

Small difference, but probably not as significant as what they were seeking.