[jessemerson]

This is from an email I received today. I'm posting it in light of some of the eBay related discussion here lately. Make of it what you will.

"EBAY IS NOT AN AUCTION
The idea of an eBay as an auction is nothing more than clever ecommerce marketing.
As a professional auctioneer, eBay is a regular part of my lexicon. Many people I talk to commonly associate online auctions with eBay. EBay has done well marketing their service, because while they do have a bidding process, they are not an auction site. EBay does not conduct online auctions; items sold on eBay are not sold at auction. They promote the idea of an auction without actually having one.
The definition of an auction is: “[a] public sale in which property or items of merchandise are sold to the highest bidder.” Source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/auction
EBay does not sell anything to the highest bidder. Instead, items are sold on eBay to the winning bidder at a pre-set end time. There is an entire cottage industry that builds software to deploy last second bids on eBay. This behavior is known as “snipping.” By entering a bid with only a few seconds left, other users do not have enough time to enter a counter-bid before time expires and the sale is made.
By having a pre-set ending time instead of selling to the highest bidder, eBay effectively circumvents auction laws created to protect buyers and sellers. They also get around licensing requirements in many states. Many items on eBay are sold for less than their actual value because time expires before bidders have a chance to bid again after being outbid. In the past on eBay I personally have been a buyer who would have paid more for an item but didn’t get my bid placed in time and a seller who received calls from upset bidders pleading me to sell them the item for more than the final price listed on eBay.
EBay doesn’t even claim to be an auction. The eBay user agreement states that they are a venue to conduct “auction-style formats.”
Their user statement goes on to state: “you acknowledge that we are not a traditional auctioneer. Instead, our sites are venues to allow anyone to offer, sell, and buy just about anything, at anytime, from anywhere, in a variety of pricing formats and locations, such as stores, fixed price formats and auction-style formats.” Source: http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/user-agreement.html
A real auction, online or live, creates a binding contract between buyer and seller. EBay expressly states bids DO NOT create a formal contract: “For certain categories, particularly Motor vehicles and Real Estate, a bid or offer initiates a non-binding transaction representing a buyer’s serious expression of interest in buying the seller’s item and does not create a formal contract between the buyer and the seller.” Source: http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/user-agreement.html Not a binding transaction?! This defeats the purpose of a website that is supposed to sell items. When all is said and done, eBay is just a marketing site charging a fee for an ad. If the buyer can walk away from a bid without repercussions, no transaction has occurred, and no one is any better off.
EBay is a site for consumer to consumer transactions. It is a place to sell tchotchkes, collectables, trinkets and other C-to-C items. It is an online market place just like Amazon.com, or an online version of a flea market. The design of eBay gives regular people the opportunity to sell online. As such, it is not a professional environment. It is not a place to sell complete estates or to conduct business to business transactions. Their terms and conditions allow too much freedom to back out of transactions once they are complete.
EBay should not be a tool used regularly by licensed auctioneers who make a living using the auction method of selling. Professional auctioneers conduct real online auctions on sites like Proxibid or from their own websites. The rules are different on an authentic online auction website and the terms and conditions allow real business to be conducted. Buyers and sellers are protected and both benefit from a controlled environment.
True online auctions have extended bidding. With extended bidding there is no set closing time. Instead each lot remains open until there are no additional bids for a set amount of time. This method nets the seller more money and insures the buyer willing to pay the most has the opportunity to win the item.
Now that you know the difference between an online auction and eBay, consider avoiding the term “eBay style auction” when describing your online auction. To me, “eBay style” means a clever e-commerce marketing idea where items are sold for less than they are worth to the lucky bidder who got the last second bid. That is not an online auction or something I want to promote."

[card ripper]

That is way too long for me to read.....I will post a legit comment in 3 weeks when I finish this novel

[diablo71]

My 2 cents...

1) If it wasnt for ebay, it would be nearly impossible to get/collect rare sets or cards that before the BAY, unless you were lucky enough to pull one you would never have been able to find them. For this reason i am grateful for ebay and sites like Beckett

When I started collecting there wasnt even and internet so every year i went to SF for the national convention and looked for cards I needed. That my friends was a Pain in the Butt.

2) Ebay for sellers is about making money, not assisting other collectors try and achieve their collecting goals. With that being said, as frustrating as some of the practices on that site are, it is a sellers market, and if you use that site to pick up cards you want/need then you have to expect that "dirty pool" will be a part of it. Get your gloves on and go for it, but know what you are getting into. Nothing should be taken personal because it is a business. The seller has an item you want and you are at their mercy. "IT IS WHAT IT IS"

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That is way too long for me to read.....I will post a legit comment in 3 weeks when I finish this novel

Agreed, i did a skim read and still took me an hour LOL

[dmasci]

Well I read it and it was a good explanation to what ebay really is. Really good food for thought..Thanks

[dtcardcollector]

"Many items on eBay are sold for less than their actual value because time expires before bidders have a chance to bid again after being outbid".

Then just bid your max price to begin with. Don't whine about being
outbid and items not reaching their true value because of time restraints.
That has nothing to do with what YOU feel it's worth. Pick your price and set it. If you get outbid at your max price that's your fault, not time.

If it weren't for said site, my PC would be about 200 instead of the 660 it is.

[y2hood]

I miss the feature the old yahoo auctions had: if a bid is entered with X amount of time left, the "auction" would extend another five minutes. That was a nifty feature.

[diablo71]

I miss the feature the old yahoo auctions had: if a bid is entered with X amount of time left, the "auction" would extend another five minutes. That was a nifty feature.

Yeah but that would ruin my sniper statistics

[pgrinpdt]

Yeah but that would ruin my sniper statistics

You'd have to use the rocket launcher to win the auction!!

[filamuraireborn]

the real live in-person auction offers the bidders the last chance with three last tries. in that period of time, anyone can snipe or outbid the highest bidder with a surprise comeback. then the process of the last chance with three last tries will repeat itself (just like what i am doing here in this post).

but you can tell me that i don't really know anything about auctions because i never dealt with that kind of situation (disclaimer).


peter

[jncdrew]

It seems you are unhappy because you are getting sniped and cant get your bid in. There is a flip side to that, bid high enough in the first place if you really want the card. I dont snipe, but, I am grateful the auctions end and have somewhat of a limit or everyone and myself would be paying out the wazoo for stuff that is already way overpriced as it is.