Matthew Caulfield wrote ("Mortier Book Music on eBay"):

> Makes me wonder what the psychology is in having a huge spread
> between minimum bid and reserve price...

Matt and MMDers,  The psychology is that if you put a big price on
something, very often you get no bids.  If you put a tiny price you get
a lot of action, but then you risk selling it for 5 cents on the dollar.

The compromise is to put a small price on and then have a reserve. This
protects you from giving it away and at the same time attracts a bunch
of bids. Once someone has bid on something, they will follow it and
will up their bid incrementally. Often they will bid much higher than
they would otherwise have because who wants to miss out on something
for just a few dollars more!

Also, the item looks a lot more desirable if there are several people
bidding on it than if it sits around with no bids.  Just my opinion.

Regards, Bob Conant