3 May
2001
3 May
'01
3:13 a.m.
At 09:10 AM 5/3/01 -0400, Carlos Murillo wrote:
Sigh. You guys are taking the position of lots of
economists when
discussing real-world markets, saying that the theory supports
the well-behavedness of the market and neglecting the fact
that the assumptions that were necessary to prove the theory
do not apply to the real problem.
As a seller, the irrational bidders are great when it comes
to improving my return on investment. Blind stupidity exhibited
by winners after the auction ends can be a real pain, or sometimes
just laughable.
To wit, near-winners, too: yesterday I got an e-mail from a guy
who said he meant to bid more, so if the winner's money doesn't
come through, he'd gladly pay me double the winning bid to get the item.
Was he stupid, or expecting me to toss him the auction?
In terms of invisible hands, I wish one would create a better
auction site and then magically give it as many visitors as eBay.
There's been a few minor changes to eBay in the past few years,
but that's it. What, it couldn't be improved? The page layouts
couldn't be more snappy-looking? Every new (for-pay) feeping
creaturism they've added looks positively tacked-on.
- John