selling on ebay, is it better to start off with a 1 dollar bid with a reserve or set the auction high?

Answer 1

No; shoot yourself in the foot.

Start at a reasonable price in accordance with the value of the item and do research the item so you don't sell a $500 item for $2. Reserves are expensive so it is better if you do not use them; you want to sell the item.

Look up the Ebay price breaks for listing and the listing prices are not that much but the final value fees are what hurt and there is no way around them.

If you list for a dollar then the increments of the bids will nickel and dime you to death and you item will not sell.

Here is the link for the insertion fees on Ebay auctions:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html

People who start things a $1 are only going to lose their *ss and make every other seller look bad in the process.

Answer 2

Reserve auctions usually aren't very popular.

Set the price a little below the minimum you'd like the get for the item (low enough so that people think "good deal") and the bidding will take it from there. Once people start bidding on something, they'll sometimes overpay for something they want, but you need to make the opening price attractive.

Answer 3

set it at the price you paid or think its worth and then watch it go up but if you dont know how much its worth just put 1 dollar