I was wondering what the point of putting a reserve on an eBay auction? It seems like it would just be easier to set the starting price at your minimal accepted level. This would eliminate the fee if the item doesn’t sell. I was wondering what everyone’s thoughts were and if you do use reserves why? I appreciate any thoughts and feelings either way.
I’m right with you. When I auction things off I set them at the minimum I would take. The only times I’d do penny auctions is if I were a business doing consignments or HAD to get a quick buck (which hopefully no one has to go through), which both would also defeat the purpose of reserves imo. Personally, when I see a reserve on an item I want I just ignore it because I cba with spending time watching an auction end only to “win” but still not get the card I want + waste my time. I would actually like to hear an opinion from someone who does reserves just to see their point of view.
I think the point is “oh if I bid a little more I might hit the reserve price.”
So its people trying to trick buyers into bidding more than they nornally would.
Auctions bring less than buy it now on 99% of the listings out there, so it doesnt make sense.
It’s one of those terrible compromises where someone wants the attention and bids a 0.99 auction gathers but the guarantee sale price of a BIN
Typically they end up with neither 
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Honestly I avoid reserve auctions completely no point in bidding on them
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I avoid reserve listings both as a buyer and seller. Ironically they typically always do worse than just starting the item at $0.99.
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I’ve mostly seen reserve listings from inexperienced sellers. As others have stated, the best method is to start at your minimum price or create a buy-it-now with best offers if you don’t need to sell ASAP. Starting at $0.99 is a sure-fire way of getting “market value” but it depends on a lot of factors (e.g., interest base, the day/time your listing ends, anticipated value, condition of the card, seller feedback, etc.) and can vary considerably as a consequence.
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I avoid them, all together just another factor to clutter. Starting at .99 tends to gain more traction with the build up and following anyways. If I want something I usually go hard for it though. By the time I’m bidding I’m 100% committed that I want the item. So knowing I could win auctioning and still not get the item is a time waste for me.
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