As a seller on eBay, I have another theory: the dumb buyer theory.
When I list things, I take great care in describing what I am listing and also to take good quality pictures (or scans) to show what I am selling. I then think about how much I have in an item, how much I hope to get for it and start the auction at a price a few steps down from what I expect (hope) to get.
I start the price a little lower than what I want to get because 1) the economy (I would rather start an item a little low and have it sell than start it high and not sell at all) and 2) I, like some of the big auction companies, would like to get a bidding war started and by starting the price lower it might get more people watching the item (and bidding).
The problem I sometimes run into is that people are leery of an item with a low starting price. Even though I have good Feed Back, have described the item well and taken good pictures, they STILL think something is WRONG with the item since I started it out at a low price. They think there is some hidden problem (based on the starting price).
So, when this happens, I answer the people's questions. If the item sells then great. If not, I wait a little while and jack the price up. If people are too dumb to take advantage of a good deal then so be it....
David
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