eBay (aka: ePay, eVay, oyVay, etc...)

From: Chuck McManis <cmcmanis_at_freegate.com>
Date: Tue Oct 27 23:48:15 1998

Ok, I have to draw a line on this one Sam ...

At 05:36 PM 10/27/98 -0800, Sam wrote:
>Well, if the guy who bought the Atari 1200XL thinks he got fair market
>value, I'm happy for him. But I don't want to have to pay some schlub
>$600 for an Atari 1200XL the next time I see one go up for sale (luckily I
>won't have to, I paid less than $5 for mine at a thrift store, and if I
>want another I'll probably find it for around the same price). What that
>guy thinks is a "fair price" does NOT equate to "fair market". There is a
>huge distinction.

There IS a huge distinction, there is no such thing as a "fair price."
Its a myth, it don't exist, deal with it. If this "schlub" as you so
affectionately refer to them knew about your thrift store (and I can
guarantee you he will) then you won't find Atari's in thrift stores and
you won't find them at swap meets and the _only_ way to get one will
be to pay more than what some other "schlub" is willing to pay. And if
the price is too rich for you then you won't own one. What's a "fair"
price for a Picasso? a Rembrandt? That is exactly what a market IS
and it is actually _incredibly_ fair. Without external intervention it
will settle on a price that people are willing to pay. To use the 1200XL
example.. Word will get around that a 1200XL goes for 600 on Ebay, so
enterprising folks who have been in thrift stores will start scrounging
around for them, and then they will all put them up on eBay and the
large number of them will cause the price to come down, probably way
down but it may not get down to a level you are comfortable paying.

For heaven's sake, you think there is a "fair" price for a house in
Silicon Valley? Of course not, the MARKET supports a median house price
that is well above what any ordinary mortal could pay for, but only
because there are enough people willing to pay that price. When people
said, "This is f__ ridicululous!" in 1991 guess what, houses stayed
on the market until the price came down. When I bought my house I
offered nearly 100K UNDER the asking price, got the house and it STILL
lost 15K in value over the next couple of years! Now its going back up,
great, but that will change when the guys from eBay who got rich on
the IPO have all bought there houses.

Economics, not just an idea it's a discipline that actually predicts
these things pretty accurately...

--Chuck
Received on Tue Oct 27 1998 - 23:48:15 GMT