The amount of the opening bid is not important. It is still not a simple sale. Who cares what book price is? We all know there are chips sold below and above book price everyday. The only way that I would consider this a sale is if I stated that "If I receive my opening bid, I will instantly close the auction and sell to the bidder for that price. Then it IS just a sale. Usually a sale is described as a "meeting of the minds". A willing seller and a willing buyer agree to a price and terms and it is a done deal. These auctions are different. By placing an item up for bid with no reserve but a minimum bid that you will accept you are saying "I will accept your bid for this item, ONLY if you are the high bidder, everyone still has the opportunity to outbid you and you have no rights to this merchandise, until this auction closes." There is no meeting of the minds here, until that auction closes.

Besides, I would rather have one bidder that bids what I would like to get out of an item offered, than 100 bids from "excited bargain hunters" that probably will never bid up to what to what you would set the reserve at. Does it make sense to encourage these bargain hunters into frenzied bidding (knowing they will quit bidding when the item is no longer a bargain), and chase off serious bidders that don't want the hassle? Not in my book! Give me 3 solid bidders, and you can have all of the bottom dredgers on ebay!

Steve