Maybe one of the all-time dumbest ebay policies - time for it to end

[swapij]

I've been  selling for over 20 years on here, and I don't know when it started, but this weird needing a minimum percentage over your listing for a  BIN price is bizzare. A  good recent example is this - I've listed a laptop worth around $500. It's probbaly not worth $600, but somone might pay $550 in order to secure it... BUT ebay won't allow that - I would HAVE to have a BIN minimum of $650, which simply isn't going to happen. 

Why?

This hurts me, and it hurts eBay. This isn't a high-profile auction, not a lot of people are going to bid on it; I already know this based on other sales.  Why can't I determine a fair, reasonable BIN price myself?

[inceptions]

The policy has been in place for several years.

You are not required to use a BIN price.

[swapij]

Yes, I know, and... I know. What I'm looking for is some justification as to why it exists in the first place.

[disneyshopper]

Years ago, ebay charged a different price for listing as an auction vs listing as (fixed price) Buy It Now.  Some sellers decided to list an item for $99 with a $100 Buy It Now so they ended up paying less for the auction listing vs a fixed price listing.  That's when ebay decided that the BIN price must be at least 30% more than the minimum.  Of course, over the years, that all changed and buyers now get 250 listings regardless if auction or fixed price, but that 30% minimum never changed.