Negotiation expert Adam Galinsky of the Kellogg School tells the secrets of eBay pricing to sell. Of any two identical items, the one with the lowest required opening bid ends up selling at the highest price.

Why? Low barrier to entry more easily gets committed bidders at the start. Later entering bidders prefer to enter auctions that already have a lot of activity and end up paying more.

Negotiations, he mentions, are just the opposite. There start higher to get your best price.