Bidding
A reserve is the seller's confidential minimum - the item doesn't sell unless bidding reaches it. On Hunters the item page always tells you where you stand ('Reserve met', 'Reserve not yet met', or 'No reserve - sells to the top bid'), sellers can remove a reserve mid-auction but never raise one, and no-reserve lots are badged because they're the ones guaranteed to sell.
The reserve amount is never shown - only its status. If the auction ends with bidding below the reserve, the item passes in: no sale, nobody owes anything, and the seller can relist or drop the reserve next time. If bidding meets it, the normal rules take over and the highest maximum wins.
A seller can remove their reserve at any moment while the auction is live - every bidder and watcher is notified, and the lot instantly becomes a guaranteed sale, which often restarts a stalled bidding war. What a seller can never do is raise a reserve or put one back: the floor under your bids can only disappear, never rise.
Sellers whose bidding sits just under the reserve near the close are prompted with the numbers - how short, how many bidders and watchers - and the one-tap option to remove it and sell tonight. Many do; a bid that's 90% of the reserve at 6pm is usually worth more than a relist next week.
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