Being both a seller & buyer I can see two sides of this issue. As a buyer, I don't like the mystery of reserve auctions, but still bite when I see something I really want. I've seen people (me included, once upon a newbie time) nibble away trying to find out what that damn reserve is... always certain it's just another $1.00 away! But I KNOW that 99% of reserve auctions are NOT going to be bargains, and part of the thrill of buying on eBay is that elusive bargain hunt! What a GREAT feeling to win an auction for a paltry sum and preen about it (picture me sitting at my puter rubbing my greedy little hands together and giggling "hehehehe")! It's like finding a designer coat on the triple discount rack and standing there in dismay wondering how you could BE so lucky and WOW it fits and DOUBLE-WOW there isn't a darn thing wrong with it! Did someone make a HUGE mistake? QUICK go buy it now before someone figures it out!!
When I first started selling, I never listed reserve auctions - I disliked them as a buyer and dog-gone-it I wasn't going to use them as a seller! Oh, but soon we learn! People won't bid on an item if the start price is "too high" because we are all looking for a bargain right?? I mean, we ALL know that a first edition of Stephen King's Gunslinger isn't going to sell for under $300, but we can always hope dammit! Maybe the person selling it doesn't know it's true worth and didn't do their homework! I'm not about to bite on an auction that starts at $300, but I will snipe on a reserve putting in my absolute max and hope for the best! Hey you will NEVER win the lottery if you never buy a ticket, right?
If you avoid listing your item with a reserve and start with a low attractive start bid, you risk the chance that your item will sell for less than it's worth, and what you need to make a profit. If you've ever put a first edition blah blah blah in a box and shipped it off with that horrible sinking icky crappy I-Want-To-Cry feeling in your gut because you sold the darn thing for $2.99, you'd know what I mean! And next week you see the same thing selling for $20.00 or more! waaaaaaaa!
So it's a Catch-22. List it low with no reserve and pray it will sell for a good price? List it high with no reserve and pray someone out there realizes the inherent value of the item and takes the high bid? Or list a low start bid with a reserve and hopefully reel in some bidders who will get hung up on getting YOUR item and chip away until they reach that darn reserve!? Sometimes the bidding will STOP once it is reached, which is ALSO a pain, but it is a WHOLE lot better than selling an item for 1/2 the price you needed.
An interesting observation, that ties into this. My sister and I attended a live auction last weekend. The barker would start all bidding at a "reasonable" price (let's say $50 for an example) and RARELY did people jump in at the start. Almost EVERY time he would have to get all the way down to $5.00 or $10.00 and then the bidding war would start. And 9 times out of 10 it would fly right PAST the bid he'd started with! My sister and I commented on it often - shaking our heads in dismay and laughing.
It's the same mentally in eBay. If you are a seller you have got to start that bidding low! So the only way to do that and hope to get the item's worth is to have a reserve. Now if you go telling everyone what the reserve is up front, then they are very likely to go looking elsewhere for a better bargain, when those same people might have instead nibbled away at your auction until they reached the reserve anyway.
(Keep in mind I'm talking about one-of-a-kind type items. I don't have multiple copies of collectibles, so I only have one chance to sell most the stuff I have. Rare exceptions are those few items I've learned are "hot" and snatch up whenever I can to resell - I MIGHT have one or two of them on hand at a time. To be honest, if I had a LOT of one item to sell, then it is likely an item whose market value isn't a mystery - so I see no point in a reserve in that case, personally.)
Anyway, it's psychological, it's marketing, it might even be insulting to those of us who are intelligent or savvy enough to know better. But we are marketing to the majority out there folks. Just turn on the TV and you will understand what I mean.
Fortunately I've never had anyone ask me my reserve... and I don't run many reserve auctions. I don't know what I'd do if someone asked. I don't see the point of having a reserve if you are going to tell. But I'm also an honest person. Hmmmmm food for thought.
And lastly, to me (no flame wars please) I don't see the point of having a reserve auction and then telling everyone the reserve price in your item details. If someone could explain the point of that to me, I'd appreciate it. My logic is, if you are going to advertise it, why not just start your bidding at that price and forget about having a reserve auction? I thought the "point" of having a reserve auction is to keep the price secret, allow you to start the bidding at an "attractive" price, and to assure you don't sell an item for more than you want. Maybe I'm missing the boat here... wouldn't be the first time, and I'm sure it won't be the last!
Disclaimer: The above meanderings are not intended as a direct rebuttal to anyone's statements or comments in this forum thread. This is all stuff I've been chewing on for some time now, and someone (whomever started this thread) just gave me an opportunity to put some of it down on virtual paper! THANKS whomever you are (can't remember and it doesn't show the originator's name in this area.)!
And a request... please remember that some of us are both buyers and sellers, and it is not always easy to balance those two things and be "right" all the time. Buyers and sellers will always be somewhat at odds with each other because one wants a bargain and quality and the other wants "quantity" (in dollars) for their quality.
Many many many good business arrangements have been made between the two, but to make both people happy BOTH have to walk away feeling like that got what they wanted.
The best buyers are those that realize that the seller NEEDS to make a profit and who VALUE other qualities like good communication, fast shipping, great packaging, honest and detailed descriptions, and some flexibility. AND the best sellers are those that realize that the buyer just spent their hard-earned cash on YOUR product (and may very well have spent more than they wanted to), who are willing to make concessions (when they can), who behave as if you (the buyer) are their most important priority at this moment in time, provide excellent communication AND follow-up, ship fast, package with loving care, and offer to bend over backwards to resolve problems. I'm sure I'm missing something, but you get the gist.
Wow, who passed ME the soapbox this early morning? Whomever you are, HERE! Take it back! Ok... back to the grind and then to bed. Night all!
diva (aka Dag)