"Hi Denise, I am too afraid of selling say an expensive Steiff bear with no reserve! I am a cloth doll artist and I posted on eBay a doll I had made with many hours or work, not to mention the cost of fabrics etc. I had an opening bid of $10.00 and that was what the bidder got her for. I nearly cried over that one. It was OOAK (one of a kind). I am afraid to list without a reserve on an Antique doll. I hope I hear from you on this subject. Many thanks, Moyra."
So, our issue today is: Should you use a reserve when selling a doll on eBay?
Current Status
With the changes on eBay in the past few years, this has become a difficult question. In the early days of eBay, the eBay market worked so efficiently that the answer always was to use NO reserve. Today, the eBay market is not as efficient, with a glut of auctions and the possibility of your auction getting lost in the listings.What's at Stake?
If you post an auction for a doll with a reserve, you turn off potential bidders. Bidders generally prefer a real auction (where the item WILL sell) to an auction where the auctioneer may just be testing the waters, or where the auctioneer may have set a ridiculously high reserve price. So, if you post no reserve with a low opening bid, you get people caught up in the excitement of the auction, and possibly getting a bargain. You'll get the attention of more bidders, and this can help you get a better price for your item.
However, if you don't post a reserve and you start your doll at a low bid price, there is always the chance that you will end up selling your item at way under market value. This can happen when your doll doesn't get noticed by enough bidders OR if your doll is one of the many unfortunate ones that share a glut of similar dolls for sale on eBay.
So, what's at stake is simply whether or not you will get a good price for your auction item, and yes or no on a reserve will play a big part in that.
