On Fri, Apr 27, 2001 at 09:45:52AM -0500, Jeffrey S. Sharp (jss_at_ou.edu) wrote:
> Quoting "Claude.W" <claudew_at_videotron.ca>:
> > Ebay or any other auction site does not "equate" ... with the
> > "true-spirit" of collecting classic computers IMO... It has not
> > helped a lot the collecting hobby IMO and has driven the price of a
> > lot of stuff to ridiculous levels
>
> Prices get hight because *people* are willing to pay that much. It's
> not eBay's fault, it's the people's fault. And if people will pay
> that much (especially if it happens regularly), then that's what the
> item is *worth*. There is nothing wrong with wanting what the item
> is worth.
Well, no -- the value (market price) of an item isn't what *one
person* will pay, it's what *people* will pay ("what the market will
bear"). EBay has a handful of features which almost certainly are
designed to inflate prices through psychological factors, thus prices
on eBay are *not* market prices. I agree that it's not eBay's fault
and that it's the fault of at least two bidders in a particular
auction, but what the item sells for on eBay and what the item is
worth are two different things (and one is not necessarily higher than
the other).
-Rich
--
------------------------------ Rich Lafferty ---------------------------
Sysadmin/Programmer, Instructional and Information Technology Services
Concordia University, Montreal, QC (514) 848-7625
------------------------- rich_at_alcor.concordia.ca ----------------------
Received on Fri Apr 27 2001 - 10:23:10 BST