Hondo6

eBay auctions with reserve prices still pop up on eBay occasionally for bikes/parts, but from what I've seen they appear to be pretty rare.

I've never understood why anyone would put an item up for auction on eBay with a reserve price. As I understand it (and I've read their policies, even though I'm not an eBay seller), on a reserve auction the seller gets "dinged" with a sales fee regardless of whether or not the item sells. I want to say that the no-sale fee for an auction with reserve price is smaller than the fee for a sale - but as I recall, it's not zero; it's a percentage of the reserve price.

I've actually seen the same item (Ti time-trial frame) listed repeatedly with a low minimum bid and what was apparently a much higher reserve price. (Stopped following it after a bit, so I don't know if it ever sold or not.) As I understand eBay's sales agreement, the seller would have been dinged for a fee each time it was listed with a reserve price whether or not it sold. IMO that is not a "good deal".

Seems to me a seller can accomplish exactly the same thing (minimum sale price) by simply setting a minimum bid price the lowest price they're willing to accept. (If they're willing to negotiate, they can also enable "Make Offer".) If I understand eBay policies correctly, a seller gets X of that type of listing at zero additional cost per month (X can vary depending on type of account). With a regular listing, also as I understand it eBay gets their sales fee only if/when the item sells. No sale, no fee - it just "burns" one of the available listings for that month.