Since running a few auctions I’ve gotten a lot of questions about what the reserve price is and I’m sure other sellers have too. I think it may deter people from putting in bids. When the bid hasn’t met the reserve price, I’ve found that people tend to put in lots of $5 bids to meet it which must get annoying. If the reserve price was displayed I think it would really streamline the auctions. It would fit nicely where the listing says “reserve price not met”, it could just say “reserve price $__”.
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Honestly, as someone that does not take part in auctions on other platforms like eBay, I do not understand why the opening bid is not the reserve price … why be able to not actually bid on something?
I guess I am just not well verse enough in the auction-verse to get the differences there.
But just to note that this is only the initial release, and new features and improvements will always come in the future.
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I’ve never understood that either, but I also have only ever bid on a single item from ebay years ago. Like if the reserve price is the lowest price a seller will accept, then why not just start the bidding at that price? I imagine it must be disappointing for a buyer to think that they’re going to win the auction, only to find out that they have to pay more if they actually want the item or animal.
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I agree on this issue as well. I have only bid once on an animal that I didn’t get before I noticed that some animals have reserve prices and some don’t.
I think when things are tweaked with this auction feature the reserve price issue could be rectified with simply starting the bidding at x amount of dollars - the reserve price, on the listing. That would make way for skimpy bidders to be weeded out and make more room for serious bidders……
Just sayin…… 
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[edit thought: you could always write the Reserve price in your bidding description to see who actually reads it. Lol]
Reserve prices are always a weird thing for me…
On one hand I understand the whole wanting to drum up interest sort of thing from the number of people bidding… The other is deterring people from just waiting it out to sniper bid for the lowest price. So having the reserve hidden makes sense.
Or the reserve is a way to sometimes get a feel for what people think an animal should be worth in some cases… it’s easier to see what people are willing to pay vs someone using the inquire for price.
I feel like maybe if the bidding starts price is required to be within a certain amount or % of the reserve it may be easier? That way you don’t have people starting a bid at 0$ with a reserve of 1k.
It would be much easier for everyone if the reserve was at least somewhere closer so it’s not a futile effort.
I actually haven’t bid on an auction to see yet…so I don’t know if this is what happens…If the reserve was to be shown, only make it visible to people who have bid.
Otherwise the only other way to make things different would be a ladder auction of sorts…instead of reserves. But I wouldn’t know how to really implement that other than just the seller saying in the auction description for example:
“If bidding exceeds 1k, shipping will be free. If bidding exceeds 1.2k, a het female will be provided as well” sort of thing.
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