final bid too low

[horttech11]

Must I accept a bid if it is below my goal?

[lucitabby]

Yes.

You should always start the auction at the lowest amount you are comfortable with.  This should be an amount that covers your cost of the item plus ebay/PP fees.  This way, in the event of only one bid, you have not lost any money

[reallynicestamps]

Yes.

EBay foolishly encourages new sellers to open auctions very low. While this enhances their 'sellthrough' rate, which makes their shareholders happy, it penalizes the seller and all too often drives away someone who could prosper on the site with better advice.

And take down that Butterfly Collection right now! You're going to lose your shirt!

Free Shipping is a good thing, I use it myself. But it costs over $12 to ship a 17x1013cm paperback across Canada. Have you worked out the cost of packing fragile china like those and shipping them to Newfoundland or Florida?

And I am pretty sure that if you are selling the entire collection, you cannot tell the customer that the price is for each of the items times fifteen.

Take it down and start again. You have lots of 'free' listings.

[reallynicestamps]

And bidders hate Reserves. You can add the amount of the Reserve to the description, but it doesn't help much.

Most customers just backbutton, rather than guess and wait.

When the auction ends, you will be required to pay the Reserve fee whether the reserve is met or not.

EBay still promotes auctions, since there are so few auction sites online, but most listings and sales are Fixed Price. Look into it.

It really is a good idea to do some buying here to familiarize yourself with the way the site works and to build feedback. Low feedback sellers are a scam magnet.