Posted By:
Rob Dewolfthere is absolutely no reason to fear a "lowball result".
Currently on the board is another thread regarding the inability of bidders to place last-second bids. eBay can be prone to short periods of down time in which the site doesn't function properly and is extremely slow. I've had a number of auctions in which the winning bid went from the opening $9.99 to a few hundred dollars in the final 30 seconds. Had eBay been having problems, that likely would not have happened.
So to say there's "absolutely no reason" to use a reserve just isn't true. They might be annoying to bidders, but they do serve a useful purpose. I've had success using a reserve and simply stating in the ad the reserve amount.