Don Tillman wrote:
>Further, any situation where the cost of presenting the item for sale
>is zero or near zero, there's a great inducement to float a high price
>for an item with attitude of, "hell, maybe somebody will pay this
>extra high price and I'll win big. It costs me nothing to try."
>
>The items you mention never actually sold, right? I would only base
>conclusions about price on actual sales.
>
You make a valid point. But I don't agree that the details of these
auctions aren't meaningful. In the case of the M1, there were four
people willing to pay $4900 or more for it. It doesn't seem likely that
they were all shills. And if their bids had been over the reserve they
would have been obligated to complete the purchase. The fact the the
seller may never have intended to sell doesn't make those bids less
valid. It is often argued that something is worth whatever someone is
willing to pay for it. And at least some if not all of those bidders
were willing to pay.
Ebay has created a new era for selling anything collectible. Why would I
want to sell something for anything less than what I know I can get for
it on Ebay?
Bob S.