[Leica] Bidding on eBay (was: something else totally unrelated)

[Martin Howard <howard.390@osu.edu>]

Jem Kime jotted down the following:

> the second auction ended with me watching the screen and seeing his last
> bid appear just one second before the end. Perfectly legitimate I'm sure,
> but leaving no time (as he'd have rightly anticipated) for me to return a
> better bid!

eBay automatically bids for you, up to the maximum amount you are willing to
bid for an item.  It's really simple: you find item A for sale on eBay, you
figure out that you're not willing to pay more than $137.50 for item A in
that condition, and you enter $137.50 as your maximum bid, even though the
current bid may only be $52.00.  Then, as time goes by, if no-one else bids
more than you, you get it for either your maximum bid (if someone bids the
same amount and you were first), or for the second-highest bid plus the bid
increment (i.e., less than your maximum bid amount).  In either case, you
get it for the lowest possible price, up to the maximum you are willing to
pay.

If someone does outbid you, well, you've already decided that you didn't
want to pay more than $137.50 for it in the first case, so what's the
problem?  Why should it make a difference if you're outbid by $1 or $1,000,
one second after you bid or one second before the auction closes?  You've
already stated that $137.50 is the *maximum* you are willing to pay for it.

If you, in reality, are willing to pay just a little more, than bid just a
little more when you enter your maximum bid.  If you want the damn thing at
any price, simply enter $2,000 as your maximum bid and you'll be sure to get
it.

Come on, guys, it really isn't *that* difficult.

M. 

- -- 
Martin Howard                 | Super Cali goes ballistic, Celtics are
Visiting Scholar, CSEL, OSU   | atrocious.
email: howard.390@osu.edu     |       -- British sports headline.
www: http://mvhoward.i.am/    +-------------------------------------------