When changing a, item's price, consider using ReviseInventoryStatus rather than ReviseItem or ReviseFixedPriceItem.

Reduce a reserve price

Sellers can lower Reserve Prices for listings on the US eBay marketplace, eBay UK marketplace, or eBay Motors marketplace even after bids have been placed to increase the likeliness of their items selling. To determine whether a marketplace or category supports this capability, call GetCategories and check the values for both the ReduceReserveAllowed and Override Reduce Reserve Allowed (ORRA) fields. Refer to Reserve Prices for additional information. Depending on the marketplace and category, you may also need to call GetCategoryFeatures and review the value for MinimumReservePrice.

When a category supports lowering the reserve, a seller can adjust the reserve price through the Revise Your Item process or by using ReviseItem, as long as no bids have exceeded the original reserve price. For most categories, this is only allowed when 12 or more hours remain for the listing. The reserve price can be reduced downwards to a minimum of one bid increment above the listing's current price. Once the reserve has been lowered, bidders are notified of the change via email, My eBay, and the listing itself.

If the item has no bids, set the value for Item.ReservePrice to any value within the following range:

If the item has bids, set Item.ReservePrice to a value within the following range:

If the new reserve price is lower than the high bidder's proxy bid, the proxy bid is also reduced to one increment below the new bid price, to prevent bidders from unexpectedly becoming winning bidders when their prior bid had not yet met the Reserve price. For example, imagine a US listing starts at $1 with a reserve of $100, and the first bidder bids $75. The current price stays at $1 since the bid didn't meet the reserve. Then, if the seller then reduces reserve to $50, the bidder's proxy bid is reduced to one bid increment below $50. For a chance at becoming a winning bidder, the bidder would need to place another bid.

No credit is given for Reserve Price Fee if the listing is revised to reduce the Reserve Price.

For additional information about lowering the Reserve Price on Motors, refer to Revise a Listing.