My Biggest eBay gripe..

From: John Lawson <jpl15_at_netcom.com>
Date: Sun Oct 17 19:57:38 1999

  My main concern with the eBay auction algorithm is that it is
time-limited, rather than bid-limited.... the aution closes after a
fixed span **no matter what the bidding activity is**.

  'Normal' auctions close when **no further bids are recieved** in an
agreed-upon span.

  I have bought and sold hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of
aerospace and industrial surplus at auctions large and small,
sealed-bid and open-floor, honestly run and 'otherwise'. The reason
I dislike the eBay model is that the item most often goes to the
fastest/luckiest bidder (sniper)... and that's totally wacked, IMHO.

  I am not going to join the "capitalism vs. overvaluation" debate.
I'm a captialist *and* a collector... that's internal conflict
enough.

  I wonder how much tweaking would be involved on the part of eBay's
logicians to convert it over to the more familiar "going, going,
gone!" type of format.

  What do You All think??

  Cheers

John
Received on Sun Oct 17 1999 - 19:57:38 BST