eBay being sued over patent infringement

From: Jeffrey Sharp <jss_at_subatomix.com>
Date: Thu Apr 24 10:45:22 2003

On Thursday, April 24, 2003, Innfogra_at_aol.com wrote:
> Actually, as a seller, I think the eBay process sucks. It is the second
> best bidder that really sets the price. The advantage really is to the
> bidder.

I feel that the advantage quite frequently tilts to the seller. When two or
more bidders are competing in the final moments of an auction, they get
caught in the excitement of battle, and those psychological forces induce
them to place bids higher then they would have normally placed. I have
experienced it both as a seller and as a bidder.

> Another very successful Internet auction run by LabX is a much preferred
> model for me. It is where the sale is extended by a minute or two when
> each bid comes in at the end of the auction. WWW.labx.com

My favorite idea is simply to have sealed bids. That is, you don't know the
high bid until the auction closes. Doing it that way prevents last-minute
psychology from causing bad decisions.

-- 
Jeffrey Sharp
Received on Thu Apr 24 2003 - 10:45:22 BST

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0 : Fri Oct 10 2014 - 23:35:45 BST