11 Oct
2006
11 Oct
'06
7:27 a.m.
Robert Borsuk wrote:
The interesting thing is that he will list items for
bidding, then if
they don't sell he will relist them at a higher price.
He does eventually sell things so I guess it encourages the high prices.
I've
seen this kind of behavior before. It seems to be a new business
model.
It works by listing and relisting the same items, or opening it as a
store and listing them always. Whenever anyone sells a similar item
that competes with the store, that store bids and buys the item, then
relists it at the higher price. Even if they don't win those items,
they'll at least drive up the prices for them to be in range with what
their store is selling, thus driving up the expected price for that item
in the market.
The end goal is to be the only source for a set of items, and to be
always available. The high price of the items justifies their cost of
doing business (space, ebay fees, buying competing items, etc.) but of
course screws the buyers. In the long run, supposedly, they wind up
making more money by being the only source.
That's what you're seeing.