"Ebay Australia as never had reserves except for cars, thank goodness"

Wrong

In the early days of eBay in Australia it was possible to set a reserve.  Not sure of the date but it was in the very early days, ended about mid 2004. It cost a small amount to use a reserve, again not sure but something less than a $1 for memory.

It was very good to get people into your auctions by starting at a low price and really build some interest in what you were selling.  Ebay used one of its famous "have you stopped beating your wife surveys" to prove that sellers didn't want a reserve, and it improves the buying experience by not having it.  Goes to show that they didn't really care about sellers even in the good old days.  Either that or their accountants must have shown them they would be a $1/year better off by removing it