To go a bit further, I don't see that the ideal pre-bid arrangements in terms of a starting price and reserve are universal for all items or that they would be equally ideal for both buyers and sellers. As an eBay seller, I might take a chance on a penny auction on a nine dollor baseball cap (altho I notice that few eBayers actually do so). I don't think I would do the same on a 3K shotgun. I did (actively) observe the selling of a Merkel 201e at GB last week. Seller definitely trusted that the congregation would assemble as gun started in the low hundreds. I personally coaxed it along from 2100 to 2600 while probing the depths of someone else's "proxy" pocket. I don't believe for an instant that a confident, standup seller would have helped your position as a buyer one bit on that one unless you wanted to buy it for a couple thou less than the price tag at Cabellas. Of course, he could have priced to start at 4500, slapped on the reserve, and owned it for the rest of his life. Good buy if you "really, really have to have it in your safe next week". From the pov of seller, it's a rainmaker game; you seed the clouds and pray. As a buyer, you enjoy a drought.
jack
