A reserve price is the lowest price a seller will accept for a lot, usually hidden from bidders; a starting bid is the public opening price where bidding begins, and it is normally set below the reserve. The two numbers do different jobs: the starting bid invites competition, the reserve protects the consignor. LiveAuctioneers' catalog guide sets the start price at 50% of the low estimate when the field is left blank and allows a reserve only "above your start price." Gavelist's bulk tools follow the same shape by default: start bid at 50% of the low estimate, reserve at 80% of the low estimate, both rounded down to the nearest $5, with any reserve at or below the start bid skipped. This guide explains each term, how the platforms enforce the relationship, and how to set both across a whole catalog.
Published October 2026 by Ben Cope, founder of Gavelist. Gavelist is an AI cataloging tool whose bulk start-bid and reserve rules are described in the second half, so read that part as first-party practice. The LiveAuctioneers rules below are quoted from LiveAuctioneers' own catalog guide, read October 6, 2026.
Reserve price vs starting bid: the difference
| Starting bid | Reserve price | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The opening price; the first bid must be at least this | The minimum the seller will accept; the lot does not sell below it |
| Who sees it | Every bidder | Usually hidden; bidders may see "reserve not met" |
| Typical level | 30% to 50% of the low estimate | Below the low estimate, above the start bid |
| Set to zero or blank | A $1 or no-minimum open | "No reserve": the lot sells to the high bidder at any price |
| Effect if too high | Fewer opening bids, less momentum | Lot passes unsold, bidder trust falls if overused |
| Who sets it | Auctioneer | Consignor and auctioneer, in the consignment contract |
A lot can have a starting bid and no reserve, which is how most online estate lots run: the opening is low, and the lot sells wherever bidding stops. A lot can also have both, where the start draws bidders in and the hidden floor protects a valuable piece. A reserve equal to or below the start bid is meaningless, because any opening bid already clears it; every platform rule below exists to stop that configuration.
How LiveAuctioneers and HiBid treat the two numbers
According to LiveAuctioneers' "Guide to your Catalog Text Format" (V3.3, read October 6, 2026), the catalog's StartPrice column "will serve as a starting point for your bidders to leave absentee bids," and "The start price cannot be greater than your low estimate. If this field is left empty, Start Price will be automatically set at 50% of your low estimate." The low estimate, in turn, "cannot be greater than your high estimate or lower than your start price." On reserves, the same guide says the Reserve Price field is for entering "a Reserve Price above your start price," and that "Items being sold on the automated console will not sell if the Reserve Price is not met."
Three rules fall out of that: start price at or below the low estimate, reserve above the start price, and a default start of half the low estimate. On HiBid, lots are entered through Auction Flex 360, whose CSV lot import (according to Auction Flex 360's mass-import help article, accessed October 6, 2026) maps a Start Bid column alongside Lot #, Title, Description and Consignor; reserves are set in the software per lot. The arithmetic is the same on any platform: a reserve only does anything when it sits above the opening.
Why the start bid should be low
The opening is bait, not a valuation. A low start pulls in the first bids that give a lot momentum, and competition sets the final price. A high start protects nothing, because a bidder who would not pay the opening will not bid at all, while a reserve protects the floor without scaring off the first bid. That is why LiveAuctioneers defaults to half the low estimate rather than the estimate itself, and why Gavelist's AI suggests a start bid of 30% to 50% of the low estimate when it writes each lot.
The low estimate those percentages hang on needs to be an auction number, not a retail one. According to Syl-Lee Antiques (2025), AI valuation tools tend to quote retail prices, while the same item sold at auction or to a dealer typically realizes 30-50% or more below that retail figure. Gavelist's optional market comps show current asking prices on eBay, Chairish and other marketplaces, linked so you can check them; they are a starting range, not an appraisal, and the asking range usually sits above hammer. Set the estimate with that in mind, then let the start bid and reserve follow from it.
When a reserve earns its place
- Consigned lots with a contractual floor. The consignor's minimum belongs in the reserve, not in the start bid.
- Feature lots. Gavelist's value tiers put recognized brands, certified and rare items at $200 and up (feature_lot); these are the lots where passing unsold costs less than selling at a quarter of value.
- Not box lots. Items under $20 (box_lot) and most $20-to-$200 standard lots do better with a low start and no reserve; a hidden floor on a $15 lot only produces unsold inventory.
According to the EstateSales.NET 2024 Industry Survey, 55% of estate sale businesses consider estate sales their primary income source, so unsold reserved lots are not an abstraction: they are inventory to store, relist or return.
Setting both numbers across a whole catalog
Gavelist sets start bids and reserves in bulk after the AI pass has produced a low and high estimate for every lot. The rules are deterministic, previewed before anything is written, and the same function computes the preview and the write, so the preview can never disagree with what lands on the lots.
| Rule | Bulk start bid | Bulk reserve |
|---|---|---|
| Default | 50% of the low estimate | 80% of the low estimate |
| Rounding | Down to the nearest $5 (changeable) | Down to the nearest $5 (changeable) |
| Minimum | $5 by default; lots below it are raised to the minimum | None; a reserve that rounds to $0 is skipped |
| Lots with no estimate | Optional flat fallback (default $25), or skipped | Skipped; no floor is guessed on an unvalued lot |
| Existing values | Replaced by the rule | Kept unless "replace existing" is ticked |
| Guard | Clamped so the start bid stays below any reserve | Skipped when it would be at or below the start bid |
| Warnings | None | Flagged when above the low or high estimate |
Worked examples at the defaults:
| Low estimate | Start bid (50%, down to $5, min $5) | Reserve (80%, down to $5) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| $400 | $200 | $320 | Both set; reserve above start |
| $35 | $15 (17.50 rounded down) | $25 (28 rounded down) | Both set |
| $12 | $5 (6 rounded down) | Skipped (9.60 rounds to $5, which is not above the $5 start) | No reserve, as a box lot should be |
| None | $25 flat fallback, or skipped | Skipped | No floor guessed |
Every write keeps the start bid strictly below the reserve, the same invariant the single-lot editor enforces, and the same relationship LiveAuctioneers' guide requires. The exports then carry the numbers: Gavelist's LiveAuctioneers file writes the start price as the lower of the lot's start bid and its low estimate, so a start bid never exceeds the low estimate on upload, and the HiBid and Proxibid files carry the start bid in each platform's own column. Gavelist charges $0.15 per lot pay-as-you-go and takes 0% of auction sales; the bulk start-bid and reserve tools are part of the catalog, not an add-on.
A short decision rule
- Set the low estimate at an auction number, not a retail one.
- Open at 30% to 50% of it, rounded to a clean step.
- Reserve only feature lots and contractual consignments, at or below the low estimate and above the opening.
- Leave everything under $20 with no reserve.
- Preview the whole catalog before writing, and read the "above low estimate" warnings as a list of lots to renegotiate, not a list to ignore.
For definitions, see reserve price and no reserve in the glossary; for the workflow in full, see how to set auction starting bids and reserves and how AI value estimates and market comps work.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a reserve price and a starting bid? The starting bid is the public opening price where bidding begins; the reserve price is the usually hidden minimum the seller will accept. The start is set low to draw bids, and the reserve, if any, sits above it.
Can the reserve be lower than the starting bid? It can be entered, but it does nothing, since any opening bid already clears it. LiveAuctioneers' catalog guide describes the reserve as "a Reserve Price above your start price," and Gavelist's bulk tool skips any reserve at or below the start bid.
What is a good starting bid as a percentage of the estimate? 30% to 50% of the low estimate. LiveAuctioneers defaults a blank start price to 50% of the low estimate; Gavelist's AI suggests 30% to 50% and its bulk default is 50%, rounded down to $5.
What is a typical reserve as a percentage of the estimate? Below the low estimate and above the start bid. Gavelist's bulk default is 80% of the low estimate rounded down to the nearest $5, with a warning on any reserve above the low estimate.
Sources
- LiveAuctioneers, "Guide to your Catalog Text Format" (V3.3), read October 6, 2026. p1.liveauctioneers.com
- Auction Flex 360 Help, "Mass Import Lots & Images," accessed October 6, 2026. help.auctionflex360.com
- Syl-Lee Antiques, "Should You Use AI to Help You Price Your Antiques?" (2025). syl-leeantiques.com
- EstateSales.NET, "2024 Estate Sale Industry Survey." estatesales.net
- Gavelist bulk start-bid and reserve rules (first-party, product as of October 2026).
- Gavelist, "Pricing." gavelist.com/pricing