My Biggest eBay gripe..

From: Aaron Christopher Finney <af-list_at_wfi-inc.com>
Date: Mon Oct 18 10:30:36 1999

On Mon, 18 Oct 1999, Hans Franke wrote:

> > On Sun, 17 Oct 1999, Marvin wrote:
> > > John Lawson wrote:
> > > > 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.
>
> > > You are forgetting the sealed bid auctions. IMNSHO, it would be far better
> > > for ebay to add the capability to make sealed bids (and yes, I have
> > > suggested that to them.) That would eliminate this inching up just to see
> > > where the high bid is prior to closing.
>
> > > Ebays suggestion that you just bid your maximum and wait to see what happens
> > > is a good thought. But making that bid early just invites "well, I'll just
> > > bid one more dollar to see what happens" and thus driving the price up. Most
> > > ebay buyers have educated themselves to know that early bids do not bring
> > > the best prices. Hence the popularity of sniping. A combination of sealed
> > > and open bidding would most likely work out better than the current mess.
>
> > Yes, which is really what "sniping" is; a user-created form of sealed
> > bidding.
>
> Come on - that would be if you where just allowed to enter one bid.

Which is exactly what I do, self-imposed.


> > People like me are the reason that bidding the max early is no good.I am
> > a fool with my money, and I don't know when to say "when." I view a dollar
> > as something that won't even buy me a cup of coffee most places, so it's
> > never a big deal to say, "Hmmm...just one more dollar..." to try to top a
> > bid. That's the biggest reason I bid in the final few seconds, to protect
> > me from myself. By the time I can reload the page after I bid, the auction
> > is over and I either won for that amount or lost...
>
> In fact, the eBay scheme comes from an overidealistic view of
> their users - if all are well defined ethical beeings beting
> ... ah bidding acording to the idealistic rules, everything
> would work fine - just, people are not like that. And by
> insisting that their rules are the one and only way, the eBay
> guys are just as stubborn as all idiologic kind.
>
> So my solution would be in offering different auction styles,
> giving the seller the freedom of choice what kind of auction
> he likes:
>
> - classic eBay with fixed end date
> - seald bid, you are allowed _one_ bid, the amount is secret
> until the final time _and_ the named amount is the amount
> to go for (!)
> - time driven - every last bid extends the closing time by
> 60 Minutes (to allow slow line / bussy people to place a
> new bid)
>
> Well, the sealed bid could be modified to a seled bid light,
> where the mechanics of the classic eBay scheme is used, which
> results into paying only the next step after the second highest
> bid (unlikely that a seller will select that if he has a choice
> between both).
>
> Also the time driven may be enhanced with a final date (unknown
> to public) to ensure that there is no endless auction.
>
> Anyway, I don't think we will see such a variety on eBay - Giving
> fredom of coice isn't everybodys thing...
>
Received on Mon Oct 18 1999 - 10:30:36 BST