[Bob Parmenter]

Ernie,
A shill bid is when the seller bids up his own item, usually under a different name, or if he's sneakier, has a friend do it. Then," darn, that winning bidder flaked out". How convenient!!!! The winning bidder does sometimes flake out because they got bid fever and then the wife kicks the sh** out of them for being an idiot, but, unfortunately I think that happens less than the shill bidding.

Sniping is done with a program that monitors an auction. If you use the program, you tell it to bid in the last few seconds on your behalf if the price is within the perameters you set. That way you don't have to have one eye on the clock and your finger poised over the keyboard, with your heart pumping with excitement as the auction draws to a close.