To be clear, I don't use a Reserve price anymore in my own listings, but I saw a footnote in my buying account at the bottom of the list of items I've been bidding on that made me wonder:
"If you have been outbid, you may still become the high bidder if, for example, the seller cancels a bid received by another bidder or lowers a reserve price."
(Emphasis mine)
Is that correct? My understanding up to now has been that if a seller lowers a Reserve price (i.e. a Reserve that hasn't been met yet), the highest bidder up to that point will see his bid lowered to one increment below the new Reserve price. (Otherwise it would be trivial to post some ludicrously high Reserve, wait for bids, then lower the Reserve in order to hook a lead bidder who thought his bid had failed and had therefore gone off elsewhere.) Once the Reserve is lowered, the lead bidder would re-bid in order to meet or exceed the new lower Reserve, and pay if no one else exceeds that.
I know that when you bid, you're pledging to pay that amount if you win; that much is clear. But if you don't meet the Reserve at that time, does the seller get to lower the Reserve later on and claim that you still have a commitment to pay? If that's the case, it would lead to bidders having to retract their failed bids for security in case the seller lowers or removes the Reserve later on, then demands payment.
