On Tue, 24 Feb 2004, Marvin Johnston wrote:
> Vintage Computer Festival wrote:
> >
> > On Tue, 24 Feb 2004, David V. Corbin wrote:
> >
> > > 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.....
> >
> > And that's exactly how the Vintage Computer Marketplace works.
>
> At a RL auction, ALL participants are present at the finish. The
> question of who gets "screwed" by sniping defaults to those participants
> who don't bid what they are willing to pay. My preference is to allow
> sniping.
At the risk of opening up a whole argument on this (which this is sure to
do) "sniping" is not an ordained right. It's not even a valid tactic
outside of eBay. Sniping is an eBay institution because that's how
they've designed their auction functionality. The whole construct of a
time limited auction without extensions is conducive to sniping, and
precisely because, as you state, not all parties are present at the
finish. The way to neutralize this is for all auction participants to
utilize sniping software, therefore submitting their high bid at the very
last second. All other options naturally lead back to this.
In the Vintage Computer Marketplace, we've decided to do away with sniping
all together by extending an auction by an additional period of time if
any bids come in within the last 5 minutes. This is fair for everyone
(though the person who thinks he's using eBay and tries to snipe in the
last seconds of the auction might not think so). It's fair for the other
bidders, because they then get a chance to try to outbid the late bidder
(even if that means going above their initial proxy bid amount) and it's
fair for the seller because it allows the item to reach it's natural TRUE
market price point. eBay does not allow this because time cuts the
auction short before someone else can potentially come in and bid higher
than the last second sniper.
So which is better? Well, we have several regular sellers on the VCM who
have made more money using the VCM, and are much happier with the VCM,
than with eBay (and not just because we aren't charging any fees at the
moment [which is about to change]). If you like sniping and enjoy the
adrenaline rush you get when you manage to outsmart other potential
bidders, then use eBay. Or, just use sniping software like StealthBid and
save your adrenaline for better uses.
If you like a fair marketplace suited specifically for the vintage
computer hobbyist and market, use the Vintage Computer Marketplace. And
I'll make a base appeal to those who still use eBay to buy/sell/trade: you
have no room to complain when something on eBay pisses you off because
there IS an alternative which you have chosen not to use. The VCM is not
used nearly enough. Some of that we can and are working on to get more
activity. We've got an advertising push coming up to take it to the next
level. But everyone here can also do their part by spreading the word
about the VCM and actually using it to sell or trade your stuff. We'll
have incentives to make you want to do this, but in the meantime, do it
for your own good!
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
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Received on Wed Feb 25 2004 - 13:54:25 GMT