Why Do People Do This??................

[jedijohnson]

vikingfan101...OK. I dont sell on eBay too often so maybe that's the piece of the puzzle that I never got. You're saying that it cost way more to post an item for sell if your starting bid is $100 than it would be for say $2, right?
And that the extra posting charge for the BIN is the cheaper route. OK, I got it.
My frustration comes when the reserve is “$100” for a card I want, but maybe no one else has a big interest in. So I bid “$100”. But because the starting bid is $2, that’s what my “$100” bid registers as…$2. Then not enuff other people bid to drive my bid upto the reserve. So no one wins. Is there a mechanism that can keep this from happening?
Other than contacting the seller directly?

[Star_Cards]

I think it's because lots of people on ebay just low toss out bids in case people buying at higher prices don't find the card. Also, some people seem to like to just be a bidder on cards for whatever reason. especially if it's a card that will end up going huge.

it's the same reason I get ebay offers of $15 for cards I have listed at $99.

[vikingfan101]

Ah, that makes Complete sense Jedi, and that pisses me off when that happens to. in that case contact the seller, and ask him to make a Buy it now.

[cardtradingfools]

Some people use the reserve feature to see what the final high bid of their auction is, and if they want to sell it at that price they'll send a second chance offer. At that point the seller controls whether they want to sell it at the high bid.

Another reason people use reserves is so the BIN price stays up, at least until the reserve price is bid. It helps a seller get around individuals who bid a penny on their auctions simply to erase a buy it now price, even though the bidder has no serious intention of purchasing the card unless they can pick up a $50 item for a couple bucks. A prior poster indicated this may no longer be the case with BIN, but it used to be.

One last reason to use a reserve is if you want to test what the relative value of your card is. List it with the reserve, see where the bidding is and if the reserve is not met you may decide just to keep the card--instead of selling it to the guy who just sniped your $30 card for $3.50 dlvd. If you liked the final bid, but the buyer declines your second chance offer, relist the card for a penny opening bid and you pay no closing costs with the prior sale (where the reserve was not met).

[cardtradingfools]

By the way, I believe the listing price of $100 or $.01 with a $100 reserve has the exact same listing fee. You receive a credit if the item's reserve is met and the card sells, thereby paying only the reserve fee and the lesser listing fee. If the item does not sell, I believe you still incur the exact same listing fee on each. Not 100% certain on that as I do not use reserve prices and I rarely sell on eBay, but I believe it is the case.

[Fordman7795]

One reason to start an auction at .01 with a reserve price of $100 is to get the bidding started. A lot of people see something for $100 and wont bid on it but at .99 they will. then the real bidders come in later and hopefully bid it up to the reserve price. if there is a reserve of $100 and bid $100 that bid will be honored and it wont be sent back down to $2. if you miss the reserve price it will be the next highest bid price. make sense?