Hmm, if it looks and hisses like a snake, its a snake!
let the seller play their ebay games and hopefully you might end up with a 2nd chance offer but then I would say youve got even more of an advantage than you had before now. no actual buyer only your mate with cash. if his best previous offer was say £3500 then i would go in with a less enthusiastic approach and offer a few hundred less than your old best offer.
keep an eye on it as it approaches the 12 hour cut off prior to the auction end - the mystical high bidder might withdraw their bogus bids at 12hrs and 1 minute to go leaving you holding the baby.
also cant stand adverts that say they dont need to sell the car and if this that and the other blah blah blah they will just stick it back in the garage..........yeah, whatever.
and the practice of private listing - bidders identity hidden seems to be on the increase on ebay......quite frustrating.