Posted By:
Steve DawsonOne thing I make a point of checking in an auction I'm watching, is the third-highest bid.
Say for instance, that you have a card, another example of which, recently ended on ebay with a high bid of $1,000. Second-highest bid was $975. The third-highest bid though, was only $280. In other words, two "gotta-have-it-at-any-cost" bidders went crazy in the first auction. Is your card worth $1,000 or is it worth only $280.
OK, now you put your card on ebay. Problem is, it might only sell for $300, since bidder #1 on the first auction is no longer in the game. Your card is now being battled for by bidders #2 and #3 in the first auction, and bidder #3 (who is now your bidder #2) is not willing to go to $1,000 since he's not in the "gotta-have-it..." crowd. If you set a reserve of $1,000, you might get lucky and the first auction's bidder #2 (your bidder #1) might hit it, but that's a BIG if; and even if your reserve is hit, savvy bidders will notice that your #2 bidder was only at say $300, and the only reason you got $1,000 is because it was a "reserve" auction, and you lucked out and drew a "crazy" bidder.
Now, say I have a third example of the same card, and I see that two examples of it have recently sold for $1,000 (and I don't understand the nuances outlined above), and I put my card on ebay. Problem is, I won't get that for my card, even with a reserve, since both bidders who were willing to go there, are no longer in the game. If I put even a $500 reserve/minimum bid (50% of it's "perceived value") it won't sell, and I'll be left out in the cold.
So basically, "value" is always a floating number. It's simply, as a previous poster mentioned above, what two people (buyer and seller) are willing/able to negotiate at any given moment in time.
Steve