On ebay, do you think it ever makes sense to have a "reserve price"?

The theory is, having your item priced lower (even if it doesn't meet the minimum bid to purchase),
encourages more people to bid on it........
and thus increases its chance of selling.

If the reserve price is $50.......

and the starting bid is only $10.........

is that really gonna make a difference?

is that really gonna be any better than just making it a starting bid of $50?

It depends on what you're selling. If you list a TV that I can Google the price on and start pricing at $5 you're just going to irritate me. If you are selling something that has a deeper value, say a historic artifact or something that has intrinsic value then it's a good way to get people moving for it.

I'd recommend thinking about it from the perspective of a buyer. Again, if you post an iPad for $5 and the reserve is $475 I'm just going to want to know how much it will be, not keep guessing from $100 to $105 to $110, etc.