Re: [MV] EBay bidders working together?

From: Steve Grammont (islander@midmaine.com)
Date: Sat Nov 20 2004 - 19:44:22 PST


>I could easily see a couple of bidders making a quiet deal like that. Suppose
>there were only two really serious bidders for some particular item that is
>uncommon, but not unique, say self sealing stembolts. They could easily
>cooperate to not bid against each other and both win over the long term.
>If one
>bidder broke the arrangement, he'd loose in the long term for a one shot
gain.

Exactly John. What Michael fails to take into account is that not
everybody is a thief. Some people are (gasp!) capable of working
together for mutual benefit over the long haul.

I've got "cease fires" with about a dozen people and I've never bid
against any of them. To the best of my knowledge none of them have bid
against me either (i.e. not using proxy bidders). Fortunately we don't
run into each other that much, but when we do it works out to our mutual
advantage to be nice to each other. Why? Because we make offline deals
with each other, like trading away spares or having someone find
something the other can't. We also exchange information and generally
interact as friends. I know that some people have a VERY hard time with
the concept of friendship, but those are not people I have "cease fires"
with :-) If one person broke the pact he would find himself blacklisted.
 And in a small collector circle, blacklisting has real teeth.

>It'd only work if there is a steady supply of stembolts though, and obviously
>fails if a newbie shows up.

The point is not to secure the winning bid for a fellow "conspirator",
but rather to simply avoid stepping on each other's toes. The one that
goes ahead with bidding is on his own. Other bidders can still come in
at any time and that is why the system works even with "collusion".

Steve



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