Posted By:
jeffI seem to recall that they dropped the lit match (for "hot auction") because it encouraged shill bidding.
Also--the lit match NEVER came up when it was a reserve auction. I guess they didn't want to reward people for starting auctions at $0.01, but with a reserve of $3K...thus needing lots of bids just to get to the real "minimum."
Speaking of the old days on eBay, there was a time when you could legally bid on your own auction. (!?!) The idea was similar to reserve auctions -- if you decided you would rather keep the card than sell it for less than $200, you would bid $199. I lost a T206 Green Cobb that way. (And good riddance to the seller who outbid me.)