Choosing the right auction format to sell your items is as important as choosing the category for it's placement.
You have two choices, the Standard Auction and the Reserve Auction, both have certain pros and cons. It's important to understand the differences from both a buyers and a sellers perspective.

This is the preferred auction format among both buyers and sellers as it's the most straightforward with no guesswork involved for the bidder and it achieves satisfication for both the seller and the buyer. The seller makes a sale and the buyer wins his item.

With the Standard Auction, a single item is listed with an opening bid setting the minimum price the seller is willing to accept, and the auction opens. The seller is obligated to sell the product for the final bid amount (sellers are barred from the online auctions at penbid if they do not sell the item, as well as bidders are barred if they don't complete their transaction). Many sellers set their opening bid for around the price of what that item usually brings at auction or what is invested in that item (this ensures the seller that they will at least break even).

Others list their items below auction value or below their actual dealer cost, hoping the low opening bid will spark interest in the piece and bring the final price to a point equal to value or to above their wholesale cost. A high opening bid without the rational of a detailed description of that particular items qualitys, can be an immediate deterrent for bidders, although many buyers prefer this to a Reserve Auction because the minimum price is clearly stated.

One of the major differences from the Standard Auction is that in a Reserve Auction you start the bidding at a lower price than you're willing to actually accept, the seller is not obligated to sell the listed piece until the reserve price has been met. You will know a Reserve auction when the icon is in the Title.

Also, the seller is charged an insertion fee as long as there has been one bid received on that particular item. If the final last bid on a piece has been placed and the icon is showing in the Title, the seller does not have to sell the item. Reserve auctions are protecting the seller's investment interest, however penbid leaves the majority of the guesswork out of it for the buyer, as to how high they must bid to obtain the piece by using the "Reserve not yet met" message for the buyers in the high bidder box and the high bidders area.

Also in the bidders areas, in the case of the high bidder exactly matching the reserve price, the "reserve price not yet met" is seen in the bidder boxes, however the icon will not be seen in the Title (their identical bids, it always goes to the buyer and the item is considered sold).

Many buyers avoid Reserve Auctions, preferring the openness and the straight forwardness of the Standard Auction, a few will bid in a Reserve Auction (usually higher quality and/or a choice item). Normally in a Reserve Auction, if a seller is going to start a higher quality piece and/or larger price tag item, he is not going to start at the minimum of 5.00, especially if the piece is reserved at 150.00. Normally in this case, the seller would start the piece at about half of what the reserve is, which would be around 75.00 in this example. It takes way too many bid increments to reach a sold price starting at the minimum or an out scale opening versus starting halfway on the scale.