Reserve Price Auctions by Tyler Jones

Here is my canned response on Reserve Price Auctions. If you need more information, please let me know, giving details about the problem at hand.

A Reserve Price Auction is an auction that has, in effect, two minimums. The first is the normal opening bid. This is the same standard opening bid in normal auctions. Reserve Auctions also have a second, hidden, minimum called the "Reserve Price". This is a minimum that the seller picks, but is unseen.

At first, bidding proceeds normally according to increment rules and such. While the current bid and the lead bidders True Max are less than the reserve price, the phrase "reserve not met" appears in red on the auction screen.

As soon as the lead bidder's proxy meets or exceeds the reserve price, the current bid jumps to the reserve price, temporarily disregarding all increment rules, and the phrase "reserve met" appears on the auction screen. After that, bidding once again proceeds according to normal proxy and increment rules. This also happens even if there is only one bidder. If you are the only bidder, and your proxy at any time meets or exceeds the reserve price, the price will also jump to that amount, again temporarily breaking the increment rules.

If the auction ends, and the reserve has been met, the transaction proceeds like any other. If the reserve is not met, then neither the buyer nor the seller is under any obligation to complete the transaction. In fact, eBay no longer permits items to be sold if the auction was a Reserve Auction and the Reserve has not been met. It the reserve has not been met, you cannot leave feedback. In this case, the only thing you can do is ask the seller to re-list.