A reserve OR starting bid sets the minimum a seller will take for his item. I agree. Maybe we don't agree on what a shill bid is. To me, it's someone hiding behind a fake ID running up the price on his own auction at the expense of the honest bidder. (fraud) I know you say a reserve does the same thing. As I have stated earlier, a reserve is not the same thing. I guess we just don't agree on this matter. Oh, one more difference in shill bidding and a reserve auction... shill bidding will get you kicked off and banned from the auction site.