I'm not sure to which auction you're referring, but there's a pretty good chance that I was one of the bidders. If that was the case, then mine was a "tracking" bid.

I almost never bother chasing even chips that are at the top of my "want" list that have reserves, and as someone who probably has as good a handle on eBay trends as anyone, I will state that it is a fact that auctions with reserves do not sell as well as those without reserves. Time after time I've seen the same chip listed to end on the same day where the one with no reserve sells at market level and the one with the reserve receives little or no attention.

There is definitely a psychology at work here, and I've seen many others express that they will not chase reserve auctions. On big-ticket items (cars, appliances, jewelry, etc.), it’s an expected aspect of an auction. To those of us who spend our valuable time and money chasing chips on a daily basis, the reserve is perceived as more of a “game” (that an increasing number of us are not interested in playing), and certainly a waste of time.

Although I recognize that under some circumstances a reserve can be used as a marketing tool, I feel that if a seller is looking for a specific minimum price on a low- to mid-value chip, he or she should either just start the auction at that level, or trust the market. As I’m sure many have noticed, there are a couple of sellers with sizable inventories who start all of their auctions at around 10 bucks… and I’ll tell you right now their auctions have been performing at high and consistent levels. There are also the sellers that consistently use reserves, and their auctions continue to attract minimal attention for the most part.

I do believe that reserves might be valuable for the seller in the case of some more expensive chips, but that said, I keep seeing the $10 starters selling at appropriate levels even in the $200 to $300+ range.