And $500 gets you...

As an economist who is also involved in the auction business (you wouldn't believe what we auction!), it seems to me that the debate is revolving around what the "market" really is. On one side are the ePayers who buy retail and on the other side are those like Sellam who are on the wholesale side of the market (not to imply that he is a dealer, but he sees things before they get to retail, from sources like: scrap dealers, institutions etc.) It is just like when you go to the auto dealer to find out what your trade-in is worth, he looks in his red/black/blue book and gives you what seems like a stupidly low price. Those prices often come from wholesale car auctions and reflect what the dealer could source cars for. He is not going to pay retail price as he wouldn't make any profit from it. That leaves you to sell your car privately if you want to get the "retail" price. But both the car dealer and you see a "market" from different points on a continuum. As I don't live in Silicon Valley or anywhere with a history of "high tech ", I can only use eBay to access the "market". If I did live there, I would have access to many more sources (that's why I'm going the the next VCF!) Conclusion, the market isn't just end users or middlemen, it's both, but they pay/get different prices! Gary Fisher E:gfisher at tristonecapital.com This e-mail and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately by return e-mail, delete this e-mail and destroy any copies. Any dissemination or use of this information by a person other than the intended recipient is unauthorized and may be illegal. Unless otherwise stated, opinions expressed in this e-mail are those of the author and are not endorsed by the author's employer.