Why?

[LibrasJusticeLeagueofBiscuits]

Why do people list items on ebay and then have a reserve price? Surely they should just start the auction at the reserve price?

Could someone explain please.

thanks.

[MrsSeanBean]

The thinking is that it puts bidders off if the starting price is too high. If a seller lists at say £50 with a reserve of £100, bids may well ceep upwards in the natural progression of things, as someone will get the bidding going at £50, when they might not want to go straight in at £100. I think for lower priced items though, you can't set a reserve, so if you want £10 for an item, you just start the listing at £10. HTH.

[Bucharest]

I think it's because people still haven't "got" the idea that stuff will, 99.9% of the time, go for what it's worth. So there is no need for a reserve. They are scared that the family silver is going to sell for 2p, and they're going to have to honour the sale. What they don't realise, is that most people, seeing a reserve, will usually think,Oh I won't bother then.

It's like people not wanting to start auctions at low prices....I was helping my cousin put some velux window things on, and he was panicked to glory when I made him start it at 99p. But of course, doing that, he still got the £120 they were worth, just got 3 billion bids instead of 3 if he'd started at £90 like he'd wanted.

I've seen some bonkers reserve prices...we're thinking of putting dd's pram on, and there's a similar (used) one on with a reserve of £250. Only paid £400 new. You could probably, on a good day, pick one up in a charity shop for about £30....

[sixlostmonkeys]

ebay auctions work on the same principle as real auctions. Many real auctions have reserves as the seller may not want an item to sell for just a few quid (as already mentioned) By starting low, same as with real auctions you are more likely to get people interested, and once in a bidding war, people still have the 99p bargain stuck in their head and will hopefully get carried away.
Reserves need to be there to prevent sellers more or less giving their stuff away and low starts are there to keep the essence of the auction room alive.

[LibrasJusticeLeagueofBiscuits]

thanks for the explanations.