The conventional wisdom is that auctions without reserves generally bring a better price, because bidders know that the vehicle will be sold and are therefore more willing to participate, thus driving up the price. Of course, any individual seller who attaches sentimental value to his vehicle--beyond its intrinsic market value--is likely to include a reserve.

__________________
1988 California version 260E (W124)
Anthracite Grey/Palomino
Owned since new and still going strong and smooth
MBCA member

Past Mercedes-Benz:
1986 190E Baby Benz
1967 230 Inherited from mom when she downsized
1959 220S Introduced me to the joys of keepin' 'em goin'

There are only 10 kinds of people in the world--those who understand binary and those who don't

I agree, it is much more attractive to a bidder to bid on a car with a very low starting price and no reserve. When I was selling cars on ebay, the real goal was to get bidders interested in the car and to bid, no matter how low the beginning price. The number of bidders shows on the listing. The more bidders, the more a person is likely to think that this is a car worth bidding on. There are cases where a reserve makes sense; a special car which has limited following, like a 1970 300SEL 6.3 that I put a reserve on at $10,000.00. I didn't expect very many bidders on a niche vehicle like this.

__________________
1992 400E current
1988 300E sold
1973 280C totalled
1973 280SEL never got it running
1971 250C my first love but rusted out