eBay vrs42?

From: Doc Shipley <doc_at_mdrconsult.com>
Date: Sat Feb 12 15:46:32 2005

Jim Battle wrote:
> Eric, I take it you buy a lot more off of ebay than you sell. Imagine
> you were selling a PDP-1 on ebay. :-) Let's say it has been restored
> to as-new condition and by all estimates is worth at least $50,000.
> Although lots of people might admire it, most of them don't have the
> money to make a serious bid. Along comes Nathan Myhvold and Marc
> Andreessen to classiccmp. Both discuss what a fine machine it is, no
> other like it in the world. You then follow their thread where they
> flip a virtual coin to decide who gets to make a bid and who drops out.
> The auction goes and there is only one remaining serious bidder, Paul
> Allen, who bids and wins for $15,000. That doesn't sound unfair to you?
> You'd just shrug your shoulders?

   If I sell a piece of equipment (ora piece of chocolate, for that
matter) in an open, no-reserve auction, the final bid on that auction is
what the piece is worth. Period.

   If I'm stupid enough to do that on a big-money item, knowing first
that interest is limited to a small group, and second that the real
value is out of most of that group's reach, then I'm also probably not
bright enough to just shrug my shoulders at the outcome. That doesn't
mean I somehow "deserved" more than I got.

   Let me be clear about my stance. If I want to sell Item A, I have
choices. I can sell it with a firm price tag. I can sell it at auction
  with a reserve, or I can sell it at auction, no reserve. Each method
has benefits and risks.

   My *rights* are simple. I have the right to insist on what I see as
its worth as a condition of sale, and I have the right to sell it at
"best offer". Neither option entitles me to receive what I think my
item's worth. The only option that guarantees that involves purchase of
a Senator or three.


        Doc
Received on Sat Feb 12 2005 - 15:46:32 GMT