Bidding with no intent to pay is unethical.

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It would be unethical if you were bidding just to raise your buddy's auction price...particularly if the buddy does not intend to charge you if you win.

It would be unethical if you did not intend to pay at all.

It would be unethical if it were your own or a relative's auction pretty much no matter what the circumstances.

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It would be ethical if you were throwing on a marker bid because you wanted to be notified about the bidding process...although the serious bidders might have a bone to pick with you.

It would be ethical if you were not really serious but were willing to pay the price if you won.

It would be ethical if you did not really want the item but didn't want someone else to have it...so long as you intend to pay.

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It would probably be ethical if you were just protecting the average price of something you own...so long as you intend to pay.
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It is ethical, but annoying, to bid on an auction where you and the seller already have an arrangement.

It would be ethical, but strange, if you posted an auction and then bid on it yourself just to "test the system."

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One tip:

If you see an auction where you do not want to let an item go for a lower price, then post a snipe.

Your snipe will not drive up the auction artificially for the serious bidders unless the final price is lower than what you would have paid.  Otherwise, your snipe will simply fail to land.

What you are effectively doing is setting a reserve price for someone else's auction...with the intent to back up that snipe with payment if you win.
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If you want to have no ethical issues at all then do not mess with auctions where you are not a serious bidder.

I have a personal code in regard to Acaeum members....

If I see an item that I might like...but an Acaeum member has already bid...then I consider whether or not my bid is likely to win or to simply annoy a fellow member.

If my interest is marginal, I do not bid on an auction where another Acaeum member is bidding...and I certainly don't leave a marker bid.

I am guilty, however, of leaving $1 marker bids on things like woodgrain box sets and the like.  No real harm, eh?  I do it just so I get reminders and tune in to watch the slugfest or see the results.

Wife:  "Wow.  You really bid on a lot of stuff!"
Me:    "Um...honey...take a look at my bid as compared to the final prices."

guerret wrote:Of course you are speaking only about ethics... but things change, and some of the things you assume are ethical might have some problem with morality...

An interesting philosophical question.

When one does not know the morality of a situation, one falls back on ethics.

I have a nasty habit of seeing things with lower than usual bids and subsequently bidding on them with the mindset that "Heck, if I win at this price plus shipping I'll make $XX.XX."  I don't mean to snipe people with REALLY great acquisitions in the works but I just can't stand to let a good deal slip by without some attention.  That being said, there is some satisfaction in knowing that my bid helped keep the going price more in-line with what I know I can sell it for at the next Convention (or even on-line).

I used to jack up Cougie's bids all the time, just to cost him some money. I knew I could get away with it due to his laughable bidding "strategy" ($11, $22, $33, etc., etc.)

It was moral, ethical, and fun.