Subject:
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Re: [DISC] Shortcircuit eBay?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.market.auction
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Date:
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Wed, 28 Apr 1999 00:01:27 GMT
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Viewed:
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612 times
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In lugnet.market.auction, Mike Poindexter writes:
> Larry, I realize that this has been hashed out before, but I must put this
> in: The reason that it doesn't work is that you don't know how much you have
> to spend until the auctions close and whether or not you bought something and
> drained your bank account. Well, the guy who ended every auction at the same
No, no, no, and a thousand times no!
People (in general) know how much they have to spend. My budgets are
typically worked out well in advance, and most adults have some sort of budget
plan, or they quickly go in debt (much like goverments).
So, "how much I can spend" is not the problem, and you seem to be missing that.
I recently made a post with one arguement (actually a couple) against the
fixed-end system, and here's another as a seller:(1)
A fixed-end auction is a stupid compromise between a straight sale, and a
traditional (1-2-sold) auction. It pretends to offer the best price for
shortest time ratio, but actually encourages otherwise. Justification:
1: There is significant data on the internet to provide a reasonable range at
which a given lot will sell.
2: Given that, there is no reason to use an auction format to determine a
"fair" price (fair being comperable to "reasonable" in the above statement)
3: Given these two statements, a fixed-end auction is inferior to a sale in
that it does not necessarily guarantee a fair price, and to acheive any
significant exposure, it incurs more delay.
4: If the goal of an auction is not to determine a fair price, then it is
reasonable to say that it is to determine the "best" price. (best for the
seller, in this case)
5: The most significant factors in acheiving the best price are exposure (how
many intereted people are aware of the auction) and the ability of those
interested people to bid until the price exceeds their desire.
6: A fixed-end auction limits exposure. (the shorter the auction, the less
people will be aware of it) (admittedly, not a significant factor on eBay)
7: A fixed-end auction interferes with the ability to bid until price exceeds
desire. Supporting statements:
7a: If a bid takes x amount of time to process, then whoever bids at [end-
time]-x cannot be outbid. We will refer to this person as "bidder A"
7b: Since bidder A cannot be outbid, there is an advantage to being bidder A.
7c: It is in bidder A's interest to keep the price of the lot as low as
possible before [end-time]-x, to minimize the final cost of the lot.
7d: (assumption: multiple bidders will be attempting to be bidder A) The lot
will go to bidder A, and several other bidders will not receive the lot.
7e: (assumption) one or more of the other bidders is willing to pay more, but
is unable to, because the auction is now closed. (note: I don't think that
anyone can effectively argue that this is not a reasonable assumption, since
much of the discusion to date has been people in this situation that are
complaining)
8: Given statements 6 and 7, a seller is not as likely to get the best price
for their lot in a fixed-end auction.
Conclusion: A fixed-end auction will not acheive as quick a sell-time as a
straight sale, nor as high a price as a traditional auction (1-2-sold)
> time actually helped the snipers out greatly. Not bad for somebody trying to
> foil them. I am a sniper at times. I would rather bid the minimum amount
> possible for something and then be outbid, sometimes immediately. Then I
> watch the lots on My eBay. When they come close to a close, I send in the big
> bid. This way, I know at that moment how much I can spend, since all my other
> bids are either outbid or rediculously low. I realize that some people can't
> be on all the time, but they can't be in Toys 'R' Us 24/7 either. So they
> miss some SW sets and they lose some bids. You seem to be on all the time,
> judging by the frequency of your posts.
Being on all the time shouldn't be a factor. By your own admission, the
system discriminates, and is unfair. Seeing as that is what most people here
are bitching about, you aren't doing a very good job of defending it.
> If you want to bid on 50 lots at once, this is the risk you run. When I bid,
> I usually have high bid in no more than 1 or 2 auctions. This is what works
> for me on eBay. I will continue to snipe as long as it benefits me. If the
> rules change, I will change to once again give me the biggest benefit. I hate
> to sound bad, but most of this sounds like sour grapes to me. If you REALLY
> want the metroliner, bid on it. If you don't know how much you can spend on
> it because you have 45 other bids open, then you wanted those other 45 lots
> enough to jeopardize the metroliner.
The example I gave in my other post is perfectly valid, and only uses two lots.
> I have seen items I have sold jump from $60 w/ 2 minutes left to $90 with 12
> seconds left to $100+ at close. I didn't complain that the guy at $60 didn't
> get to retaliate. If he did, the others probably wouldn't be there to snipe
> and it would have gone for less.
Hunh? That makes no sense to me. Please explain how your statements lead you
to that conclusion.
James
http://www.shades-of-night.com/lego/
1: Yes, I'm aware I'm using a chain-of-logic format where it isn't entirely
appropriate, or entirely accurate. Sue me.
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: [DISC] Shortcircuit eBay?
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| James, If an auction runs too long, people will lose interest in it. I speak from a sample size of 1 - me. I would chose shorter auctions as opposed to longer ones. I do not represent the entire population, but 1 segment. If the system (eBay's)is (...) (25 years ago, 28-Apr-99, to lugnet.market.auction)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: [DISC] Shortcircuit eBay?
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| Larry, I realize that this has been hashed out before, but I must put this in: The reason that it doesn't work is that you don't know how much you have to spend until the auctions close and whether or not you bought something and drained your bank (...) (25 years ago, 27-Apr-99, to lugnet.market.auction)
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