Re: [OM] Ethics Revisted

[Bob Christopher]

My experience with Pittsburg Camera Exchange/Bernies Photo has been similar to Gary's. On a particular item
I received their stock reply, offering me the opportunity
to buy direct after no one met the reserve. I called 
them and asked them two questions: (1) Why is their
reserve substantially higher than the average of 
previous eBay sales for the same item, and (2) what
determines if an inventory item goes to eBay or not.

Their answers were quite revealing: (1) their reserve
prices reflect their own valuation not eBay averages
or even McKeown's suggested valuations, and (2) the
only inventory items that reach eBay are the ones they
can't move at the retail counter level. 

I got the distinct impression that Pittsburg Camera
Exchange sees eBay as the cyber equivelant of the 
"mystery box auction" where the only winner is the
seller. They know full well that there is an element
of competition in any auction that allows prices to
escalate beyond any reasonable valuation. They bank
on that and that alone. Interestingly enough, the
last item I called them on turned out to be a scratched,
blemished, dented, inoperable Canon Dial 35 half-frame.
For this darling they had their reserve set higher than
the last sale a Dial 35 in 9+ condition in the
box with all the goodies. 

BTW, for a rundown on customer evaluations of camera
shops/retailers/mail-order photo equipment sellers
see http://db.photo.net/neighbor/index.tcl

Bob Christopher
Littleton, Colorado

At 06:45 PM 8/27/98 -0700, you wrote:
>>In a message dated 98-08-24 12:39:33 EDT, you write:
>>
>><<
>> Recently I expressed my opinion that setting high reserves on eBay, having no
>> one meet the reserve price and then soliciting unsuccessful bidders was poor
>> ethics.  I had a hunch that certain companies/sole proprieters were doing
>>this
>> as standard operating procedure.  Here is an example of such by the so-called
>> Pittsburg Camera Exchange (a.k.a. Bernies Photo), who doubiously claims to
>> have the largest stock of used camera equipment.  Note that my unsuccessful
>> high bid was $92.00, with 19 bids submitted:
>> ******
>> Thank you for bidding on this item.  The reserve on this item was $155.00.
>> If you are interested in the item at this price, please send us your zip
>> code so that we may figure out the cost of S&H to your home or business.
>>
>> We will reserve this item until you have had a chance to refuse it, before
>> offering it to the next highest bidder.
>>
>> Thank you for your consideration,
>> ***end***
>>
>> Gary Reese
>> Las Vegas, NV >>
>>
>>
>>Comes to mind that perhaps they have the largest inventory of used equipment
>>because they have the highest prices and just can't unload this  stuff.
>>
>>Methinks that the occasional individual who is having trouble deciding whether
>>or not to part with a particular piece of equipment might have a problem
>>selling below a certain point.  His/her prerogative.  However, for a company
>>or individual to make a practice of setting reserves higher than the going
>>rate does seem to me to be somehow deceptive.
>>
>A couple of thoughts:
>
>I would be willing to bet that each person who bid receives the same letter
>from the dealer. They are probably all told that they are the high bidder
>and if someone beats you to it by the time you reply they will send you a
>"sorry" letter saying that they held it for for 2 days or 2 hours and when
>you did not reply they offered it to the next one.
>
>Would it be farfetched to have eBay receive "financial support" from
>dealers who run this little game on their site?
>
>Winsor
>
>
>Winsor Crosby
>Long Beach, California
>mailto:wincros@xxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>
>
>
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/BC                                     Bob Christopher
bc@xxxxxxxxx
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