Thanks, Jim, but the "I didn't enjoy the thread one
bit" wasn't directed at you. In fact, I commend you
for holding together what could have become nasty by
a few.

My whole point regarding the reserve question was to
point out that there doesn't need to be excessive
bidding once a bidder knows how much he is willing
to pay. There is no waste of time involved either. Take Doug Saito's auctions as an example.
Those who bid in his auctions know the market and
know what their limits are...and certainly know what
thry're doing. His rule is very simple: You can
only bid once...and suggests as ebay does to bid as
high as you are willing to pay. Simple, I would
think. I think I made a point. Whether some accept
it is not important...but what is important is there
is nothting wrong with a reserve auction. Regarding
eBay's thinking of reserves: They simply jumped on
the bandwagon and picked up an extra buck for each
one. Otherwise, if eBay thought it was not an
honest type of auction it would not be an option.