What you need to know but didn't know to ask :)

Why have a reserve at all? Should I tell potential buyers what my reserve is? When should I use a reserve?

Questions. Questions. Well here are a few answers.

Why have a reserve at all?

I guess what sellers are really asking is - why not just set the lowest price I will accept as my beginning bid and let it go at that? First of all, you want buyers to look at your auction. To see the value of what you have, so they can comparison shop and realize the uniqueness of your item. To have them do that you have to get them to at least look at your description. If the price is set high - for example a quilt and the first bid is 99.99, they may not bother to look and just pass it over. And you have paid all those listing fees for nothing.

On the other hand, if you start it at 19.99 with a reserve of say $135.00, you just may get the buyers to look, then you have gained their interest and then they may bid. And if your reserve is met, you receive your reserve bid fee back.

Should I tell potential bidders what my reserve is?

I would. If they are interested enough to email you to find out the reserve, then yes I would tell them. I often go a step further and list the reserve price in the auction. I'm not trying to hide the reserve price after all, I'm just trying to get the buyer interested enough to look at the auction.

When should I use a reserve?

Use a reserve anytime the price of the item is high enough to warrant it. For example I wouldn't put a reserve on a $20.00 item. I would list it at 14.99 or 19.99 without a reserve. But for items that will go hopefully for hundreds or thousands of dollars, a reserve makes sense.

Reserves are great  research tools. Say you have an item for sale with no idea what it is worth. What price to put on it.

In this instance I would start the item with a reserve. The reserve should be a price you are willing to let the item go for and no less. So your auction runs and ends with no winners. But possibly several people have bid. It didn't go as high as the reserve but maybe it came close.

Now you can decide to sell to the top bidder at the price they bid if it is close enough to what you wanted that you are willing to settle for it.

Or if the bids don't come anywhere near what you expected for the item  it might indicate lack of interest in the item at "this particular time".

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