P3D Re: eBay and sell-3d policy

[Stereoptician <stereoptician@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dan Shelley wrote:

>Do you _HONESTLY_ remember to check eBay every day to see if you can
>find that "widgit" you have been looking for?

Isn't one advantage of eBay that you can look once a week and not fear
missing something?

>What is so hard about deleting messages you don't want to read?
>I delete messages that don't much matter to me _all the time_, but I
>don't ever say "let's drop 3D topic x because I don't like it!"
>I put up with messages threads
>that are irrelevant to me, sometimes even mildly annoying because I like
>the value of the whole list(s). I just don't understand the problem
>here...

I also delete lots of messages, as, I'm sure, do most of us.  And although
I find many threads I'm not interested in, I do not and would not advocate
suppressing them.  But eBay ads are fundamentally different.

IMO, the point isn't so much the clutter, although that is an evil in
itself. It seems, at least to me, that sell-3d is intended as a place for
people to buy and sell 3d-related items in a collegial atmosphere. It
certainly has been, historically, just that.  Ebay, on the other hand, is a
venue for sellers who want to squeeze every last penny out of their items.
They are two very different exchange systems. Now, I don't begrudge people
trying to get the most out of their items -- that's for each person to
decide. But having chosen the profit-maximizing auction venue, IMO a seller
takes unfair advantage of the system (s)he has eschewed if (s)he then posts
"ads" on sell-3d.

What those of us opposed to eBay notices are offended by is this "double
dipping" -- trying to exploit the advantages of a narrowly-targeted,
collegial sales environment and a profit-maximizing auction environment,
both at the same time.  We ask simply that sellers choose one, according to
their needs and circumstances, and then live with the choice they made,
rather than destroying the collegial character of sell-3d by exploiting it
in their effort to get top dollar for items that aren't really for sale on
sell-3d anyway.

Stereoptician


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