Random Ebay Listing I found...

[mimosatexas]

Came across this today and it looks like a hell of a deal if you are local (Maryland).  Shipping is steep, but the lot being sold is huge and worth a lot more than $500.  Just thought I'd let anyone who might be interested know before it ends in a few hours.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Screen-printing-/281591128473?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item419023a199#shpCntId

If someone does pick it up I'll buy the hat presses and the tape dispenser for $250

[inkman996]

Reserve not met so who knows what the actual $$$ desire is for the set.

[mimosatexas]

Ah, didn't see that...crap.

[Denis Kolar]

I'm expecting to see it end around $1500-1600
It is a nice collection of things worth that kind of money

[diavale]

Not sure what the reserve was but hes got it listed on another site for $2500

[Frog]

ya know, that secret reserve crap is one of the reasons that I never played much with ebay auctions. Same reason I hate garage sales with no pricing guidelines.
"How much" Make an offer.

Why, even if it's worth it,  would I offer ten dollars when they may take fifty cents? It's kinda' fun to see their face when the offers are way, way below what they'd hope for, but then again, I shop garage sales for bargains, as I assume many shop ebay.

[mimosatexas]

I garage sale and craigslist a lot too, and I always just offer what I am willing to pay, and might haggle a little if they balk.  I also hate the reserve crap...didn't even notice that on this one. :/

8 minutes left, let's see if it hits this mystery price or he ends up paying to list it for nothing...

Why not just start it at the lowest you'll accept and that is your "reserve".  I fail to see what the point of a secret reserve price is to begin with

[Frog]

I garage sale and craigslist a lot too, and I always just offer what I am willing to payegin with

But like I said, when unpriced, why offer ten bucks if they would have taken two (or less)?
Case in point, I once bought some valuable, unused new collectible Winchester and Keen Kutter knives for a couple of bucks each, and probably would have easily paid 20.  In fact, it was the really cheap price that helped authenticate them with the old timers whose knowledge upon whose knowledge I relied at the time.

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

I decided to bid on this and according to the message I saw on the page, I was the high bid.  If you need to know, PM me I tell you what I bid. And no, it wasn't up to the reserve bid.

[Gilligan]

Well, the idea behind the "reserve bid" is that it may cause a bidding frenzy.

Pitting one guy against another (maybe another) where "oh no, you aren't gonna out bid me!" kind of crap.

These people may have never got into this bidding war if they saw the reserve as the lowest price.

Not everyone operates at the same wavelength as some of us.

[mimosatexas]

bidding war or not, once the reserve is met, the motivation to keep bidding will diminish in both parties I would think.  You're right though, some people definitely just have to "win" even when it doesn't make sense.

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

In my case, I usually don't want the merch bad enough to work at it very hard, or pay close to market value. That was the case here as well. I just threw out a number I'd give, and it wasn't enough.

One time, I wanted a vacuum sealer, but not very bad. I threw out my usual "Ok. I'd give xxx.xx" and didn't give it another thought. In the mean time, I went out and bought one at a store. 5 days later, guess what showed up??

I didn't need TWO...but I have TWO.

[inkman996]

Gilly is right the hidden reserve was implemented to get people bidding when they normally would not if they knew the actual reserve. Its stupid physiology, a person sees something they really really want with a low price, they drop a bid on it thinking hey I might get lucky. Eventually a power buyer comes along and starts bidding, the first person is hungry now and is focused on what he still thinks must be a great deal. Eventually the power buyer or the naive person ends up meeting the reserve and shelling out the cash.

I stopped using Ebay back when the reserve started and the robot bidders started taking over.

[inkman996]

Oh and the trick is to post a really low starting bid and have a really high reserve. Its the low starting bid that gets the suckers to bite the hook in the first place.

[Binkspot]

I pulled the auto out of that place a few months ago, told the guy I would come back later that week with cash to buy his two heat presses, the shurloc table, inks including a PC system and a bunch of other stuff including a Toyota emb machine. Never returned my calls to meet me.  It was all on digit smith for a bit.