Subject:
|
Re: CFD: e-bay (aka ranting and raving)
|
Newsgroups:
|
lugnet.off-topic.debate
|
Date:
|
Wed, 10 Feb 1999 10:17:09 GMT
|
Viewed:
|
590 times
|
| |
|
|
In lugnet.off-topic.debate, bwappo@ee.net (Adam Yulish) writes:
> I agree that [eBay's] system has more than a few loose hoses, but
> designed for the cashflow and glory of the designers and sellers?
Sure, look at how successful the whole thing is from Wall Street's point of
view: eBay's stock has been trading in the $200-$300 range for the past two
months. On the day of their IPO last November, several people became
instant millionaires overnight. You can retire on that kind of money.
"It's a good business." :)
> [...]
> Their sniping didn't work, because they both made the false assumption
> that they were going to be the last sniper standing. Proxy bidding
> without sniping always works for me. I either get the product I want, or
> I prevent myself from spending more than I wanted to.
You've never lost out to a sniper and wished with 20-20 hindsight that you
had gone just a teensy tiny bit higher in case the sniper's proxy bid was
lower than you really would have gone?
> > I don't believe that for a second. I must be misunderstanding you. Let me
> > see if I understand what you're saying... You're saying that you'd
> > willingly pay $50.00 for something, but you wouldn't pay $50.01?
>
> That did sound ridiculous, didn't it. :) To clarify: Yes, that's
> exactly right, but there's more to that 1 cent than just the money. In
> addition to deciding what I'm willing to spend monetarily on something
> at an auction service, I'm also making a *time* commitment. The person
> who ekes in that extra $0.01 is also spending a half an hour on their
> sniper perch.
I wonder if sophisticated snipers have written eBay-monitoring scripts so
that they don't have to spend that time. :)
> So yes, if they're willing to spend 1 cent plus one half
> hour more than I, more power to 'em. That's more than the total time +
> money I'm willing to expend.
Someone wastes away their life picking their nose and sitting on a sniper
perch waiting to steal your bid away from you and you say more power to 'em?
OK...
> > Do you honestly believe that you can decide ahead of time how much you're
> > willing to pay for something -- down to a dividing line of $0.01 -- and
>
> To the cent is extreme (very, huh? :), but within a couple percent
> (usually a couple of dollars)? Absolutely.
Interesting. :) OK, how do you figure at the time you place your bid that,
say, $127 is a good number, $124 is insufficient, and $131 is too much?
Just intuition?
> [...]
>
> > > If I was going to quibble over
> > > couch change (or much more), I should have made that part of my original
> > > bid.
> >
> > You can't. The eBay system doesn't allow it. This is the heart of the
> > problem. This is WHY people hate eBay.
>
> Ugh--pardon my bad English--that's "If I *were* going...". It's getting
> late.
>
> I'm not sure I understand correctly what you're saying. We can make any
> original bid we desire. If you meant that eBay's system of rigid time
> limits prevent accurate bid changes or "quibbling", then I think that we
> may need to agree to disagree on the importance of being able to do so.
OK, that probably sums it up perfectly. You are able to guess your maximums
accurately enough that your are able to place little (or no) importance on
the ability to tinker with a bid (specifically, additional chances to rebid
when outbid, even near the end).
Now let's turn that on its head.
What would you do in the following scenario?--
You have a budget of $200 which you intend to spend on acquiring old long-
lost Space sets for your collection. Someone comes along on eBay and offers
up five different old sets for sale simultaneously, all with nearly
identical closing dates (oh, say, within a half hour of each other).
The opening bids on these sets range from $50 to $100, and you know from
experience that the prices on these particular sets will probably climb to
between $75 and $150.
You'd really like to acquire two of these sets, three if possible.
How do you place your proxy bids?
What are the possible outcomes of those bids (collectively)?
--Todd
|
|
Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: CFD: e-bay (aka ranting and raving)
|
| (...) Fair enough. :) Relatively few people receive that cashflow from eBay's operation/existence. Many more receive cashflow and/or save time by finding the items they've been looking for, so I don't consider eBay's money-making for its owners a (...) (26 years ago, 10-Feb-99, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
|
Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: CFD: e-bay (aka ranting and raving)
|
| <snip> (...) I agree that [eBay's] system has more than a few loose hoses, but designed for the cashflow and glory of the designers and sellers? All the grumbling about eBay doesn't point to very much glory, and the cashflow would be higher if eBay (...) (26 years ago, 10-Feb-99, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
|
89 Messages in This Thread:
 
 
- Entire Thread on One Page:
- Nested:
All | Brief | Compact | Dots
Linear:
All | Brief | Compact
This Message and its Replies on One Page:
- Nested:
All | Brief | Compact | Dots
Linear:
All | Brief | Compact
|
|
|
|
