Subject:
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Re: why eBay proxy bidding is broken
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.market.theory
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Date:
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Fri, 8 Oct 1999 23:23:48 GMT
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Reply-To:
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{lpieniazek@novera}Spamless{.com}
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Viewed:
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696 times
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James Brown wrote:
>
> In lugnet.market.theory, Eric Kingsley writes:
> > In lugnet.market.theory, Larry Pieniazek writes:
> > > A recent auction result:
> > >
> > > ebart3 (0)
> > > Last bid at: $50.01
> > > Date of bid: 10/05/99, 17:52:29 PDT
> > >
> > > pmfoster (10)
> > > Last bid at: $50.00
> > > Date of bid: 09/30/99, 15:31:52 PDT
> > >
> > > At this price level the bump is a buck. There is NO WAY ebart3 should
> > > have gotten this item for one cent more, he should have had to go to 51.
> >
> > Now I am no fan of Ebay but here is one possible scenario as to how this could
> > have happened...
> >
> > 1. Opening bid on box of 20 widgets = $30
> > 2. On 9/30 pmfoster bids $50 but because of proxy bidding price is set at
> > $30.
> > 3. On 10/5 ebart3 comes in and sees a $30 bid with a minimum bid of $31 and
> > places a maximum bid of $50.01.
> > 4. Proxy bidding occurs and because ebart3 has out bid pmfoster by $.01 their
> > bid stands.
> >
> > In this scenario ebart3 is not bidding $50.01 on something that is allready at
> > $50. They are bidding on something who's highest bid was $30 with a minimum
> > bid of $31.
> >
> > I hope this makes sense. If it does not let me know where my logic is off.
>
> That is how eBay does it, I believe. However, Larry (among others, myself
> included) feels that you should be required to exceed the proxy by the minimum
> bid, not just the current bid.
preface: eBay can do it whatever way they want. And the URL given later
in the thread makes it clear they acknowledge the way they do it may
result in a bump. Their place, their rules.
My thesis is NOT that they "can't" run things that way, they can. It
merely is that they SHOULD run differently.
The idea behind proxy bidding is to actually carry out an auction, not
just to allow a calculation to occur. Remember, in the older eBay
explanation of proxy bidding, they used the phrase "fierce bidding war"
to describe it. They dropped that phrasing.
Suppose we use Eric's numbers but lets start at 45. What many auction
sites do is as follows.
PF has it for 45 but has a proxy for 50
EB bids 50.01 proxy.
The auction software kicks in... EB has a bid of 46 placed (the first
proxy bid) PF *also* has a bid of 46 placed and is treated as having bid
first. He holds. Now EB has a bid of 47 (next proxy bid) and PF *also*
has 47 and was first... on up to 50... EB has a bid of 50 placed but so
does PF. EB's next actual bid is for 50.01 which is too small to beat
the min increment and therefore EB does not win.
Now, I claim that is fairer. PF was ready to pay 50 FIRST. He needs to
be beaten by the min bid increment, or 50+1.
Others do not. but to me it's just one more example of why eBay is
deficient. Pretty much every time I examine some facet, I find something
I don't like. Amazing, really, that it has done so well anyway. but so
be it.
--
Larry Pieniazek larryp@novera.com http://my.voyager.net/lar
- - - Web Application Integration! http://www.novera.com
fund Lugnet(tm): http://www.ebates.com/ ref: lar, 1/2 $$ to lugnet.
NOTE: Soon to be lpieniazek@tsisoft.com :-)
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Message has 4 Replies:
 | | Re: why eBay proxy bidding is broken
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| (...) E-bay now has the popularity/momentum/visibility to do just about whatever they want and continue to get away with it. I find it unfortunate that their somewhat sloppy idea of online auctioning is now considered the standard. Steve (25 years ago, 10-Oct-99, to lugnet.market.theory)
| | | Re: why eBay proxy bidding is broken
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| In lugnet.market.theory, Larry Pieniazek writes: <major snippage> (...) My two cents worth (had to outbid that lousy 1 cent raise) is I'm with Larry. In his example, PF bid $50 *first*. It is now incumbent upon any bidder to raise it by the minimum (...) (25 years ago, 11-Oct-99, to lugnet.market.theory)
| | | Re: why eBay proxy bidding is broken
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| From a seller's standpoint, a proxy bid is not as powerful as a "FIRM" bid. A proxy is better than a minimum bid (with no proxy) though. High Firm Bid -------- | | (proxies in here somewhere) | | -------- Minimum Bid The question is, where should a (...) (25 years ago, 11-Oct-99, to lugnet.market.theory)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: why eBay proxy bidding is broken
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| (...) That is how eBay does it, I believe. However, Larry (among others, myself included) feels that you should be required to exceed the proxy by the minimum bid, not just the current bid. I'll let Larry explain the reasoning behind this, he's (...) (25 years ago, 8-Oct-99, to lugnet.market.theory)
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