reflections on ebay

From: John Foust <jfoust_at_threedee.com>
Date: Thu May 11 15:56:31 2000

At 08:16 AM 5/11/00 -0700, Marvin wrote:
>Sniping (bidding in the last seconds of the auction) is an on-going argument
>that has some strong opinions on both sides. It is most certainly NOT a
>lottery or even close. It does take advantage, or perhaps even promote,
>ignorant (of the item value) bids. Sniping would be totally worthless if
>people would bid what they are *willing* to pay rather than what they are
>*hoping* to pay.

There are dozens of types of auctions. Wouldn't it be nifty if eBay
had a type of auction where the bidding was scheduled to end at a
particular time, but that bidding would continue in a going, going,
gone fashion as any auctioneer would do? This would let the N
last-minute bidders hang around until each had explicitly declared
that they were out of the running. Presto, the end of sniping.
To really make it interesting, combine it with a chat room aspect
that lets you see the other bidders.

- John
Received on Thu May 11 2000 - 15:56:31 BST