eBay vrs42?

[Roger Merchberger]

Rumor has it that vrs may have mentioned these words:
 > And some other dude who's attribution was long gone, said:

> > On the M100 forum there exists a list of eBay names (how come you haven't
> > brought that up, Merch?) so that, if they choose, members can refrain
> > from bidding against fellow members (and, presumably, correspond
> > with each other). Different list, different interpretation of
> > fellowship and cooperation; haven't read any of these arguments there.
>
>I might feel that such a list is short-sighted, but it is much harder to
>argue that is "collusion", since there isn't any communication about prices,
>and each individual makes their own decision in private.

And the reason for the lists (each person keeps his/her own list) is for 
the intention of: "He/She's my friend, I don't need the item that bad, I'll 
not bid against them." It's not a matter of collusion, it's a matter of 
increasing odds that a friend who may want it worse has a better chance of 
getting it.

Basically, it's an "I don't wanna stop on someone else's toes." courtesy 
rule, not an overt attempt to minimize a seller's income.

[[ We can play what-ifs all day and nite, but the spirit of the list(s) 
is/are for good, not evil. ;-) ]]

>Fortunately, there is also at most very indirect pressure to participate.

Which is why I didn't mention the list, as I didn't think it had any real 
bearing to the discussion at hand, and I thought it could have been yet 
another datapoint for someone else to get worked up into a lather over... 
which wasn't my intention in the past, and is not my intention now.

> > I always thought that the idea of an auction was for a)the seller to try
> > to get as much as possible _and_ b)the buyer to pay as little as possible,
> > not just a)...
>
>I thought the idea of an auction was to attempt to discover a price that was
>best for the seller *and* best for a buyer, given market conditions at a
>particular moment.

Neither of you are quite right. The idea of an auction is this:

It's to garner a price that's best for the seller, and the price increase 
is inversely proportional to the IQ of the majority of the buyers.

;-)

I've seen used (near-new) items sell for 20-50% more than the *exact* same 
thing brand-new at Wal-mart. Heck - I saw one person overbid when a store's 
pricetag was in *plain view*!!!

When that happens, I say: "Good for the seller!" :-)

>Anyway, I hope that helps, without restarting a hot and heavy discussion of
>issues that have already been beaten to death.

Me too! ;-)

Laterz,
Roger "Merch" Merchberger

--
Roger "Merch" Merchberger  --  SysAdmin, Iceberg Computers
  _±±_                          zmerch at 30below.com
(©||®)  If at first you don't succeed, nuclear warhead
  _)(_   disarmament should *not* be your first career choice.