Only ever bought stuff on e-bay rarely sold anything. Now I have to sell a couple of antique books for my Dad ho has a minimum amount he is looking for, it is better to put a reserve on them or start the bidding at a higher price?

At present one of the books would be the only one of its kind on the site while another has one item finishing Sunday night which has attracted one bid only on it which is above Dads minimium amount but it started at that bid amount.

swings and roundabouts really.

Reserve prices attract a fee of 2% of reserve even if you dont sell (but obviously higher starting prices have a higher fee too).

Some buyers claim they are put off by reserve price auctions. Others aren't

(I am not put off personally as if I know what I want to pay, and it isnt hitting reserve then that's fine - I just bid on a car unsuccessfuly and it didnt sell because didnt hit reserve). In my mind that seller was foolish as it would have cost them £50 in reserve fees alone for no sale...however with a higher start price it would have been just £2.

Personally, if I had a figure I would like to achieve, I would just go with a starting price option...even if that price is under what I would hope to achieve - but then you take the risk...so if you don't want to let it go below a fixed price, make that the start..as interested buyers will have an idea of value of the book anyway

Cheers for that I guess everyone has a different psychology, wat I do not want to do is put off bidders as the more bids the better generally as people get caught up in auction winning fever.