I'm personally a strong believer in letting the market set the price, so I favour the auction format where possible. That doesn't mean I start everything at 0.99, but I would prefer to set a starting bid close to that of what I would have set as a buy it now option, if I were going to do that.
That gives me the option of still selling the product, and possibly making more than anticipated if the market at the time is strong enough. The thing that would be concerning me is that if I was selling at but it now, and selling quick, it would be an indication that I was selling at under current market value.
Of course not a bad thing if you can sell at below market value and still make profit, but you could be burning cash if you are not aware of what the market will sustain at the time of your sales.
Money is tight, and will more than likely just get tighter over the coming months, so squeezing every cent/dime out of a product isn't a bad idea.
No issues at all with non paying bidders, but I set basic biding requirements for my auctions, and that includes having a positive feedback score of at least 10 or the bid is canceled without notification.
No doubt without including that in my bidding restrictions I would have had some issues, because I have canceled bids that did not meet my qualifying criteria, and never had one person inquire as to why!
When I very first started I used the buy it now option a few times and found it was attracting scammers like flys to burnt sausage. They would just hit the button, delist the product, then try and work me because they had nothing to loose, especially with mobiles!
There are some items that you have to set a buy it now price, usually drop ship products. Setting a starting bid on those products is just delaying your opportunity to make the sale and a complete waste of time.
Like most things, different strategies will work for different products.