explanation please

[callostemma]

Okay sees item for 0.99 bidding start puts  bid on to $6.00  No other bids till 1 hour before close of auction.  then 6 bids item goes for $6.50
right!
 then item is relisted??????????? and this time sells for 14.50  according to what is registered on my ebay  (this information comes from my items i did not win.
Whether the item did indeed sell for the second amount  is out of my available information
So are sellers allowed to use a snipe system to  buy and relist items that do not sell for their desired  amounts

[*wheels*]

Are they allowed to? NO
Do some dodgy sellers do it? YES

If you think it is the same item relisted then have a look at the winning bidder's bidding history and it may give you a clue if it was the seller bidding. Have they placed bids on only the seller's auctions? Do they have a number of bid retractions? Has there been any feedback left? If there is feedback from the buyer, was it left immediately?

You can report shill bidding to eBay but you would need to have some kind of proof for them to take any action.

[*wheels*]

If you send me the item number I will have a look later.

[callostemma]

The only way i knew it had been relisted    was because that was on the bottom of the Items "you did not win'
When I checked on the relisted item it  read  "this item has been relisted or one like it"
so there is the loop hole.   
To prove it is/was the same item, would be difficult.
Not worth the effort but may explain why "someone' labouriously puts small bids on an item near its finish time

[*smee*]

Could be that he had more than one , sold the one with the 99c dtart for less than he had hoped so when he relisted he changed the start price or changed to bin , whatever , he may have just done it that way so he doesnt have to recreate a whole new listing ... I often use the relist facilty to relist items i have more than one of , doesnt mean the first sale fell through ... As a s eller you can use sell one similar option a well , but sometimes you have to re
Oad pics etc doing it that way , sometimes its easier just to hit relist option and change the pricing ...

This may not be the case here , but it may well be a legit answer too ?
As you said Callo , a bit hard to prove