setting up a private auctions to save fees

[nike]

hi, im new here sorry if theres already a similar thread like this....:D

is it legal to do a private auction so that you can save on ebay fees..

example. a seller is selling his shoes for BIN $500 with best offer....buyer submited his best offer of $450, and the seller aggress with the offer. so in order for the seller to save some ebay fees , he created a private auction of $0.01, ask the buyer to bid and afterthat he will end the auction . next, the seller will resend the invoice to the buyer and will ad the remainig $449.99 in the shipping.

so my question is , its this legal ? will paypal do anything if they find out ?

[Quasi_Mojo]

Is it legal?
No.

Does it happen?
Probably.

The buyer has no protection and will most likely be ripped off (receiving ⊗⊗⊗⊗ goods or maybe even no goods).
The seller will eventually be caught and suspended.

[Jonas]

Getting a buyer to cooperate iwould be so hard it's easier for it to just go directly outside of eBay.

Buyers still have protection from their credit card. PayPal protection is often a lie anyway.