Thread: A QUESTION FOR ALL TO PONDER

Well, I can't see a reason to keep the list any longer.... I've already had the names of members who beat me in in any number of auctions burned into my braincells.

Come to think of it, I might feel better if I didn't know who beat me in an auction, most of the time when it's someone like Traveller, I then realize I should have bid way more. On the otherhand, when I win the auction and nobody else bothered to bid, I can't help but think "What did those guys know, that I didn't?!?!!".

Regards

Kaptain "Ignorance might just be bliss" Zero

The last time I sold an item on eBay, I could see the bidder's full usernames and check their feedback, etc. It would be nice to be able to check those names against the list we keep here, but nothing's to stop people from leaving that info all over the SRP auction forum anyway. May as well have it all in one place

Hi Lee,
I also forgot that the seller can see the full name of the bidder hence, I suppose, a reason to keep the EBAY NAMES LIST. However, this does not help someone who is bidding on an item and not knowing who they are bidding against. Also, since I am the one updating the EBAY NAMES LIST I do not know for a fact that all of the names are CURRENT MEMBERS since I do not go thru and recheck all of the names to see if they are current members. I, however, did this once and it took a long long time. So, after one wins an auction and then tells the seller that he/she is an SRP member then the seller can go to SRP and check the MEMBERS LIST then the seller can verify that they are a member.
I am not trying to get out of doing the EBAY NAMES LIST but just trying to see if we really need it or if it is really helping since the bidder cannot tell who he/she is bidding against.

I've never understand why any one has a problem with E Bay. It's an auction.
As a buyer you must decide how much you are prepared to pay for the item on sale. You enter that price as a bid.
If you end up paying less than your bid, be happy because you got a bargain. If you don't win be happy that you didn't pay more than you thought the item was worth.
Knowing who else is bidding is totally irrelevant isn't it?

Originally Posted by English

Knowing who else is bidding is totally irrelevant isn't it?

I think the point originally was to prevent bidding against other SRP members if you didn't desire to do so.

I think it is still nice to have for sellers. Is it much of a hassle to maintain? If so, then I can live without it.

I would be concerned that any such practice could be viewed as price fixing and illegal.
IMHO SRP should not associate itself or its members with such practices.

Originally Posted by English

I would be concerned that any such practice could be viewed as price fixing and illegal.
IMHO SRP should not associate itself or its members with such practices.

I would simply treat an SRP bidder on my auction with more respect than an anonymous bidder. It means less hassle for me and is a small convenience. Not having the list would not affect anything for me, I would probably just print one out and update it myself if the decision to let it go is rendered.

English, that is an interesting observation - I suppose any eBay seller could be tempted to offer under the table discounts to upstanding SRP members

How can NOT bidding against an SRP member be considered as price fixing or illegal. I can see the sellers point of view that this may be cutting the final price on an item but still it is not illegal. The reason this was set up was to keep two members from bidding against each other when all they were doing was raising the price against each other. If one member really wanted the item then he could PM the other member and they could talk it over to see who would do the bidding. I can understand your theory of "so what, let the highest bidder take it home and if you really wanted it then you should have bid higher". Well this is kind of a "close nit family" and "who wants to bid against family members."

I think that you will find that two members rigging a price in such a manner is actually illegal. You are cheating the seller.
It's no different to the seller raising the price of an item by having a friend put in bids at the appropriate time.

I agree that there is actually no way that anybody would know if two people were to collude in such a manner. At a real auction for example, you can physically see your friends and just back out and nobody can question your actions.
Ofcourse on e bay you run the risk of a third buyer pipping you at the last minute.

I think the real issue I am raising is that SRP should not be seen to be associated in aiding and a betting any such practices. SRP could be seen as facilitating price fixing. That I suggest could be seen as illegal.

Originally Posted by str8razor

The reason this was set up was to keep two members from bidding against each other when all they were doing was raising the price against each other.

Now I understand why eBay's recent change does indeed eliminate the original purpose of the list.

Sorry for the !