On Tue, 1 Dec 1998 18:25:52 -0500, Steven_Read@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx jammed all
night, and by sunrise was overheard remarking:
> Someone here once said something to the effect of "Ebay
> is set up for the sellers benefit" and I've come to believe it.
Well, yes and no. It's on some neutral ground here, especially with the
effect of sniping (those last minute bids). If you're clever, you can
always time your bid so no one has a chance to bid more -- of course,
you don't their pre-existing high bids anyway, so unless you're crazy,
rich, or both, you can't assume a win just because you get the last one
in.
On the other hand, in a traditional auction, which is absolutely
designed to benefit the seller (and, in fact, the seller is E-Bay's
customer, you as bidder are not), bids keep coming in until no more are
offered -- the classic "going, going, gone..." thing. If E-Bay did that,
sniping wouldn't work, and you would always be able to up the last guy's
bid by "a cup of coffee" or so. This would very likely raise bid --
unless you assume that the timed-to-the-second closing factor makes
people stupid or something. I don't have evidence to the contrary.
--
Dave Haynie | V.P. Technology, Met@box Infonet, AG | http://www.metabox.de
Be Dev #2024 | NB851 Powered! | Amiga 2000, 3000, 4000, PIOS One
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