JMark wrote:
....
The rationale behind a reserve is sound. If it hangs people up - then
they don't bid - probably weren't going to help maximize your potential
anyway...

You said it very well. I have used a reserve a couple of times. The
reserve was well under Greysheet. People who don't like a reserve may
be wanting to seriously underpay for coins. Of course, the seller
doesn't want to be underpaid, so sets a reserve.

A seller only has a couple of ways to protect an investment -- a fair
opening bid or a reserve. A fair opening bid inhibits bidding more than
a fair reserve does. (I'm not talking about obnoxiously high opening
bids or reserves.)

If a bidder offers a fair price, then most likely the reserve will be
met. There is no reason to avoid reserve auctions. A seller has to make
a decision on a coin to decide how much money he/she can afford to
lose. If other sellers are like myself, even the reserve price will be
a loss of money, just not an intolerable loss. An auction is risky for
a seller, particularly when selling coins that have an uncertain
market. It does take away the bidders' hope of getting the coin at
bargain basement prices, but that is the point. Sellers cannot afford
to give their coins away.

BTW, I do a lot of true auctions. I would not recommend this as a good
business practice, particularly for coins that are not on the current
hot list. We had a thread a year or so ago about figuring how much loss
was tolerable, then setting an opening bid or reserve. From what I have
seen, these are often fair prices for the coins (with many notable
exceptions), so shouldn't create any resentment. Most of the people
selling coins on eBay aren't rich, so don't want to let their coins go
for too little.

Anita