Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/07/15
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Excerpts from leica: 15-Jul-99 [Leica] Prices on E-Bay "Doug Richardson"@medito (1280*) > Has anyone else had the same experience? I haven't used E-Bay yet, but > it seems a bit weird - I can see items whose sale date is days away > already gaining realistic bids, while other items a day from sale date > are ridiculously low - less than $50 for something which even in poor > condition would sell for $500. > [ deletions ] > Fifteen seconds later the price had reached 720! eBay uses what they call a "proxy bidding" system wherein a buyer places their maximum bid and the computer automatically increments their bid up to the maximum. So it is that there might be a bid with a maximum of $1,000 which has been incremented only to $200; and you can see only the current bid, not the maximum. There is also a lot of last-second bidding on items. Prices *do* jump exactly as you described as having observed at a Christie's auction. Long, long ago in middle-America as a young child I attended numerous country estate auctions with my grandmother. At her side I learned to never *ever* display public interest in any item until actually placing a bid JUST before the final gavel. Why..? Because if TWO people are interested in the same item it will likely drive the price higher than you might otherwise buy a given item for. The *precise* same concept is operative on eBay. Those auctions aren't over until they're over. rwyble@erols.com Richard J. Wyble