Online Auction Reserves

An online seller may decide to put a reserve on their item, which means they have set a minimum price that they are willing to accept. This allows them to start the auction at an attractive low initial bid, but prevents the item selling below the price they have in mind.

There is usually an extra listing fee payable for listing an item with a reserve price, based on the reserve set. This fee is often refunded if the item sells.

If an item has a reserve, it will have the message "reserve met" or "reserve not met" written next to the current price. Although the reserve price is not officially disclosed, many buyers will tell you what it is if you ask them; simply click on their name and send them a question.

If you are bidding on an item, the presence of a reserve may make the bidding jump higher than you expected. For example:

• Say you are bidding on an item with a £50 reserve.
• A number of other people have put bids in before you to a level of £35, which means the reserve has not yet been met.
• You decide that the maximum you want to pay for the item is £60, and put a bid in for this amount.
• In a normal bidding situation, a proxy bid would be entered for you at the next bid increment, in this case £36.
• However, because there is a reserve (below which the item will not sell), and because you are willing to pay this reserve price, a bid of £50 will be entered for you, causing the bid to jump from £35 to £50.