Well, here's the thing. I put a new Dell Streak 7 tablet up starting at 0.99 BTC, no reserve, high bidder gets it. Same thing I usually do on ebay. Well there are so few users /bidders on BiddingPond that it sold for $20 BTC. Great for the buyer, not so hot for me.
I'm not giving up on it yet though. I should perhaps start with some cheaper items.
A low start price (1 btc) plus a reasonable reserve is a way to try to sell a valuable item on biddingpond. People DO bid on reserve auctions, but not as much as reserve free auctions. Unfortunately people often set the reserve too high as well.
reserves are bullshit, and an insult to bidders. "come on little ones - your bid is worthless, but you can do it! oops! your bid is real now - better retract it..."
man up. if there's a price below which you are not willing to sell, then that should be your starting bid.
i've been a successful book dealer on eBay since very shortly after its beginning. i've never offered an item with a reserve.
and i've
never bid on one, either.