[meteorite-list] Meteorite eBay Bidding Comment

[Sharkkb8 at aol.com]

Mike Groetz:

  <<  nothing more disappointing than someone that lays
out for the last few seconds and then outbids you >>
 

Having participated in an off-list, knock-down drag-out fight with another 
listee about this particular subject  ;-), here's what I would offer:

I think bidders who complain about being outbid at the last second are 
virtually always guilty of one mistake:  they never placed a bid of the MAXIMUM 
amount they would be freely willing to pay for the item.  As Mike G. put it "It 
does not give the previous bidder any chance to reconsider their offer".   If, 
on the other hand, you always place a bid of the MAX amount you're willing to 
pay, you take any "reconsideration of your offer" out of the picture.  You will 
often end up getting the item for substantially less, but more to the point, 
you can't complain about sniping:  the sniper wins only if his maximum amount 
is more than your maximum amount.  He's SUPPOSED to win if his his max amount 
is higher than yours.  Additionally, the sniper can live or die by his own 
sword, i.e. if an auction is about to close with $100 showing as the "going" bid, 
but you have previously placed a hidden $200 bid as your maximum amount, the 
sniper will be shut out if he snipes a last-second bid of $175  -  then HE 
doesn't "have a chance to reconsider the offer", either.  

I agree that the popular rule for other auction operations, i.e. letting time 
elapse until five minutes has gone by without a higher bid, would solve the 
sniper "problem", but it really only addresses the non-sniper-bidder's 
frustration, it wouldn't change which bidder wins the item.   With either system, the 
highest bidder STILL gets the item, whether one second or five minutes before 
the final bell. 

Gregory

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/private/meteorite-list/attachments/20040611/4b029222/attachment.html>