e-bay item

From: Doug <doug_at_blinkenlights.com>
Date: Mon Mar 1 13:44:41 1999

On Mon, 1 Mar 1999, John Foust wrote:

> You mean the seller has the advantage because they own the pile, or that
> if they advertise cheaply (like on eBay) they're certain to find at
> least one buyer?

I've already listed a few way ebay slants the advantage towards the
seller.

> I'd hate to see the list become polluted with irrelevant postings, but
> so far it hasn't been too bad. Someone could always start another list
> with filtered eBay postings relevant to classic computers. If eBay
> doesn't have agent searches that send daily results to you by e-mail, it
> should.

I'd like to think that part of the reason the ebay noise level is pretty
low here is because we've already had this discussion, and the list you
recommend has already been created. Those who haven't yet mastered the
art of efficiently using ebay's search engine can listen to Marvin post
his arbitrary list by sending a "subscribe ccauction" message to
majordomo_at_nut.net.

> I figure that if it's on eBay, wolves and idiots will find it regardless.
> There's no sense shooting the first messenger, if just over the hill
> there are thousands of messengers and potential buyers. It's like
> trying to keep a really cool web site "to yourself." It doesn't
> make any sense, and it's futile.

You're saying we're on a slipery slope, so why not slide all the way down?
I'd guess there are a few thousand listings on ebay that might be
interesting to one or more list members on any given day. It wouldn't be
too hard for me to write a little application to give you a sense of the
fire hose you're asking to be turned on :-)

I don't want to hide ebay. They're at www.ebay.com. They have a very
nice search engine and lots of good stuff. Please don't duplicate their
site here.

-- Doug
Received on Mon Mar 01 1999 - 13:44:41 GMT