[Exhibitman]

The reasoning behind how people sell things on Ebay is as varied as the people who sell things on Ebay. It could be anything from a reasoned plan to the seller relisting the item from an older expired listing at a higher price and forgetting to reset the price [I've done that a few times when Ebay didn'd let me use the "relist" shortcut from the unsold items menu because the expired item was itself a relist].

For most casual sellers, I think it boils down to the randomness of Ebay. You just never know who is looking and when they are doing it. I recently offered an item several times at a specific opening bid. Nada. I then offered it at a higher opening price on a BIN/Best Offer and sold it on a Best Offer for more than the opening bid that no one had made. I assume the buyer either didn't see it the last time out or rethought it.

Sometimes it makes sense to escalate the price , especially if it has been a while since you last offered the item for sale, again because you never know who is looking. I know I've relisted items and had them sell for more than the older offer price. It also gives me margin to accept a Best Offer.

I've also offered items well below their prior sales prices and gotten no bids at all. Just depends on who is looking.

One thing I always try to do with a tougher or oddball item is to use the BIN/Best Offer tool. I think it generates better results than either a straight BIN or a straight auction, I assume because I am willing to pay a bit more for an item when I know I can close the deal immediately and I assume the sort of collector who is interested in those sorts of cards would do likewise.