ebay question - what is reserve?

[can'twait]

I've seen it on a few auctions, what is it? TIA

 

[disneynutt1225]

Basically, reserve price is the minimum price the seller is willing to part with that item for. It used to be that if the auction ended before the reserve price was met, the seller didn't have to sell the item to the buyer. Not sure if it's still done that way, it's been a while since I eBayed.

 

[ChristyJ]

The reserve price is set by the seller for the amount he/she is willing to sell an item for-it's basically another way to get the price where you want it without initially listing it high.

Others will likely have more info...

 

[can'twait]

So, why don't they start with a minimum bid of the lowest price they are willing to take? I've seen high minimum bids. Does it give the seller the option of seeing how much they can get and if the max bid is lower than their minimum, at the end of auction, they can decide if they want to take the max bid anyway or bow out of the auction?

 

[~Kathie]

Sometimes the seller starts an item at a low price to encourage bidding. They put a reserve price on the item because that price is the lowest amount they are willing to sell it for.

If a seller starts the bidding at $9.95 but has a reserve of $100, the listing fee is based on $100 PLUS there is another charge ($1 or $2 or may depend on the reserve price) that ebay charges but will refund if the item meets reserve.

Confused yet??? There's more!!!

If an item does not meet the reserve price, the seller does NOT have to sell to the highest bidder and the highest bidder is NOT considered the winner. The seller may offer to sell the item (only through ebay) to the high bidder at their high bid........almost like a second chance offer. The high bidder is not required to purchase the item.

Hope that helps.