ebay question

From: Teo Zenios <teoz_at_neo.rr.com>
Date: Tue Feb 24 20:03:58 2004

----- Original Message -----
From: "David V. Corbin" <dvcorbin_at_optonline.net>
To: "'General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts'"
<cctalk_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2004 8:44 PM
Subject: RE: ebay question


> Alas, eBay does NOT mimic a decent "real-life" auction. There are many
> strategies. I agree that holding off on bidding (and even using a bidding
> "robot") is one of the most effective, but it is not the only one. Placing
> an early bid can also have a dramatic impact. There are a number of items
I
> do NOT bid on because I see another specific person has logged a bid, and
I
> do not want a bidding war (at this stage he can probably make better use
of
> individual parts than I). Other times I will place a bid for 70%-90% of my
> "limit" early. If other people see a significant bid early on, they my not
> bid.
>
> All said and done it is a "Game" in the strictest mathematical sense.
>
> Personally, I wish that the auction would be more like a real world one
> where the auction ended (after a suitable startup delay) when not bids had
> been placed for a specific interval (30 minutes?). This would more
> accurately reflect a "real world" open auction. IMsnHO.....
>

I don't have a problem with the way things work now on eBay (as a bidder).
If I was a seller things might be different since sniping tends to keep the
prices lower then a "real" auction would. Any way you look at it eBay does
bring the most buyers to the most sellers in an organized easy to browse
format. I have used Buy-It-Now on quite a few auctions and don't generally
snipe much at all.

Anyway when you have auctions where real money does change hands there will
always be people scamming you one way or another by using a shill,
misrepresenting items or quality, overcharging on shipping, never sending
the item you paid for, or selling fake goods. You have to be careful and
know the items your buying along with knowing what to do when things go bad.
Received on Tue Feb 24 2004 - 20:03:58 GMT