How do reserves work in the Legendary auction?

[Matthew H]

Why not just start the auction at the fixed price and see if one or more people still want it (Rather than than trying to pretend the minimum bid is something else)

[Exhibitman]

Matt: Your initial post discussed the card as auctioned but then expanded the discussion to a generalized discussion by labeling the auction result as:

"what the current market will bear for the card - if two folks out there there were willing to pay any more, they would have bid higher."

and then concluding:

"Hence, we know the value of the card in the current market."

I took issue with the two quoted statements because they conflated two definitions of market--the initial part of the post used "market" as a shorthand for a particular exchange for buying and selling an item but then shifted (as quoted above) to using it as shorthand for the aggregate demand for a particular product or commodity. My point was that it is not accurate to label a single auction result as "the value of the card in the current market" because of the factors that make a specific auctioneer such an imperfect measure of a market. If you meant to limit your definition of "market" to "the most two people were going to pay at this time, at this auction house" I don't disagree with you. However, I don't think that limited definition of market can stand as a basis for making a broader conclusion about the overall market price of a card.

[paul]

Jeff, just on mine. I don't know about the others.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

However, I don't think that limited definition of market can stand as a basis for making a broader conclusion about the overall market price of a card.

Agreed.