"lsmyer" wrote in message
...
When I sell a radio on eBay, I start the bidding at 1 cent with no
reserve. My auctions always do extremely well. I've sold many radios for
more than I paid for them. The reason it works is that people are greedy.
They smell a bargain and want a piece of what I have. By setting the
bidding low, more people can afford to participate in my auctions. When
you place a bid, you become an owner of that item. And once you become an
owner, then you start becoming protective of your property. That's when
bidding frenzies happen, and that's where I the seller make a lot of
money.

Caveat Lector wrote:

I suspect this will work most of the time, but on occasion (for whatever
reason), folks are not bidding (income tax time?) and an item sells for so
low, that it is virtually given away.

I suspect that is the reason some sellers have an outrageous shipping cost.
Man is that a put off for me. Caveat Emptor sez I.

Possibly, although I think it's -much- more likely that they would use a
reserve; a reserve protects the seller from getting taken to the
cleaners as in your example above AND does not scare off potential
buyers with an outrageous shipping cost.

I'm not sure why some people have such a hard-on against reserves. Let
me explain...

If you were selling something at a real, in-person swap fest, say you
were asking a 100 bucks for your item. Furthermore, you would probably
be willing to let them dicker you down to, oh, $95 or even $90.

However, in the back of your mind, -known only to you-, the *absolute
minimum* price you would take (to keep from having to haul your item
back home) is $85. This $85 price in the back of your mind is *exactly*
the same as an eBay reserve; nothing sinister about it, no plot, just a
"safety net" to protect you, the seller, from having to sell at a
give-away price.

As to why people keep the reserve a "secret" is obvious--why tip your
hand by telling the absolute, rock-bottom price you would accept? It is
an auction, after all.