A Reserve Auction is very similar to a No Reserve Auction
except for one key difference. In a Reserve Auction, before the auction has even begun the seller of the item
specifies the minimum amount they are willing to accept for the item. This is called the Reserve Price.
This minimum amount, or "Reserve Price" is important because if the auction ends at a price that is
less than this "Reserve Price" (the minimum price the seller is willing to
accept), the seller is not obligated to sell the item. They can if they want to, but they are
not obligated to. This is different from a No Reserve Auction, because in a
No Reserve Auction you (as the seller) are obligated to sell the item to the
"high bidder" no matter what the high bid happens to be. In Reserve auctions eBay assesses a certain type of fee
called a Reserve Fee at the time of your listing. If your auction completes successfully (either
because your Reserve Price was met or because you choose to sell your item to the high bidder), eBay will refund
this Reserve Fee back to you. If your item completes unsuccessfully (in other words, your Reserve
Price was not met and you chose not to sell to the high bidder), your
Reserve Fee will not be refunded back to you.
Tip: In eBCalc, Reserve Fees are automatically added into your
Insertion Fees (if applicable). You can specify whether or not you decided to sell your item to the high
bidder (in cases where your "Closing Price" is less than your "Reserve Price") by choosing the approriate
Item Sold or Item Not Sold radio button in the PayPal options box.