I was fascinated by scorch's explanation as to why he wants to put a reserve on his expensive items. I believe he is right, but maybe we are both wrong. If you sell an item worth $5-$10, you really don't care if the item sells for $5, $6, $10, or even $4. But if your item is worth hundreds, or even thousands of dollars, you really don't want to sell it for $20. If you place a starting price of $1000 or even $500, you immediately turn off most bidders. And if there are no bidders, others won't bid either, since bidding is contagious. If you start at a very low price, assuming that bidders will know the true value of your item and start bidding at a fast pace to your desired price, don't hold your breath. Perhaps those that would like to bid on your item are away on a business trip, or they are sick, or they just don't feel like bidding that day, or their computer is down, or... whatever. So you receive two bids on your $1000 item, the highest being $50. All you can do is cry. As an example, I had an item almost exctly like one that sold on eBay for over $300. I listed it for a starting price of $50 expecting to get at least $300. Guess what? It sold for a little over $100. I cried.
With a reserve, some bidders might know the value of your item, but don't know how much they can get it for. So they start bidding, encouraging others to do the same. Those who don't know the true value, or cannot afford it, drop off, leaving only the serious bidders. If none of those reach your reserve, "que sera"! You just wait for a better day. It has cost you some money, but you didn't loose a bundle.
If someone dissagrees with me, I would like to hear a different oppinion about reserves.