1) First of all, you must put something up for sale that has some definite value. It has to be something people want. If you start it at $0.99 (or lower), you will definitely attract more bidders than if you start it at even $5 (regardless of its intrinsic value). Some people get e-mail alerts every day and in order to limit the number they receive, they enter a maximum starting bid amount in the Search settings. That means anything above that amount simply won't show up. So number one is: you use a low starting bid to attract more bidders.
2) Number two is something I think just makes sense, although I have no specific data to back it up. If you set a low starting bid, people will be inclined to view you as "fair." If you are looking to start up near what might well be considered as the maximum possible bid anyway, then people are likely to regard you as greedy. Who cares what they think, but: they won't bid on your auction. I have followed numerous auctions sporting ridiculously high starting bids and seen them almost always close without any bids at all. Still, maybe you get your kicks from paying fees to eBay rather than actually making a sale.
3) Thirdly, regardless of what happens, as long as the item has some definite value, you will always make a sale. Personally I find that important. I don't want the auction to end without a bid. But you should not worry: eBay attracts so many buyers that there will always be good competition for any worthwhile item on sale. I have been disappointed with my sale price on about two occasions over the years, and very pleasantly surprised on numerous occasions. In fact, I can assert that it averages out very well indeed.
4) Fourthly, and I'll stop here, with a low starting bid, having attracted more bidders, you are likely to see some dramatic competition at the end of the auction. This happens to my auctions virtually every time. If you have a relatively high starting bid, you will have less potential buyers watching to begin with and there will be little room left for any serious increase in bidding at the end.
So go ahead and try it: set your auctions at $0.99 or less (with no reserve of course) and see what happens. They must have definite value. The title should be accurate and descriptive. The scan(s) should be clear so people know what they are bidding on. And the bidders will come. Never fails!
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