P3D Re: Romney's book (was eBay crazy prices (part III))

[michaelk@xxxxxxxxxxx (Michael Kersenbrock)]

> >If Sears knows that Walmart sells a sweater for less than
> >they sell it for, should Sears put that info in their
> >Sunday paper ads in fine print next to their offering?
> 
> I knew someone would have to say that... With all due
> respect, this example bears no resemblance to the 
> situation on hand here...

I think it has tremendous resemblance in terms of what the
ebay seller is required to do in his/her business offering.

To say otherwise is to claim that the selling of stuff on
Ebay (by anyone) isn't "business" like Sears is -- but I 
think it is.  Or can be, being in business is a state
of intent.  Especially when the price competitor in the
Romney case is the "wholesaler"!

> I just checked the first auction of Romney's book and it 
> brought $52.  $52 for a copy of a used book that can be 
> obtained new for $17!  There is no business spirit here... 
> It is just taking advantage of the ignorance of the buyer.  
> Period.   

Or in that case of Ebay, it may just a buyer playing with the
seller, messing up their auction with bids that they don't
intend to make good on.  From what I've read, it's not rare.

> I would personally be embarrassed to have my name associated
> with such transaction, even if it is clearly the buyer's
> ignorance that created this monster.  Still, as a seller, 

Hey guy, you're a first class business person!

> I feel it is my duty to educate my customers, not to take
> advantage of them... And I feel this way no matter if I am
> selling in ebay, sell-3d or in person in NSA.  And if I
> did not know about the existence of a source of new books
> when I placed it for sale but was informed later, I'd be 
> happy to either take it back or sell it for a fixed price 
> *less* that the price of the new product.  (And Mike, I am
> sure you would have done the same too.)

Yes,  I would, but I don't feel "bound" to do it, only that
I think I should.  It may seem that I'm contradicting myself,
but I don't think so.

Consider someone in a form of retail business.  They buy goods
from the source and sell it into other markets at some price
higher than their cost.  Consider someone buying Romney books
from him and selling to the Ebay "market" -- and wanting a
profit.  Would that be an inherently bad thing to do?  I
don't think so.  Ebay is *full* of garage shop businesses as
well as ones that might even have store fronts too.  I think 
it's the buyer that has the burden of knowing what's the 
proper value (under normal circumstances -- there can be exceptions
when the buyer is under duress, or if the other bidder is a shill,
etc).  With Ebay, the high prices usually are at sniping time
and most likely the high-bidder has had quite a bit of time
(days) to discover its value him/her-self.  Caveat Emptor (or some 
such spelling -- this mailer has no spelling checker).

I think the seller should be honest about it, particularly
when selling used books that are still available new from
traditional channels -- but in the context of Ebay, the burden
is on the buyer.   The Seller has the burden of describing
accurately what the item is and its condition, but further
information is, I think, both "strongly encouraged" and "optional".


> PPS.  Can someone post his web page in photo-3d??? :-) :-) 
>       I will personally email all those who bid on eBay and
>       give them this reference.  Or, is this illegal?  :-)

If you're registered with Ebay, then they could/would toss you out 
of Ebay.  It's against something in all the fine print one agrees 
to when registering.  Somewhere in there -- or so was claimed in another
discussion about this somewhere.  Re-read all that fine print
yourself and see if you interpret it to be true.  :-)

Mike K.


P.S. - I just sent a check today for an ebay auction I won for $1.99 but
       the shipping fee is $5.75 (for a piece of paper), want to start
       another thread?  :-)

P.P.S. - If the guy who buys the Romney book for $50 then tries to sell it
         for $40, is he bound to disclose the buy-new price even though he's
         selling it for a loss as it is?  Would it be unethical unless
         he sold it at a bigger loss than it already is?


> 
> 
> 


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End of PHOTO-3D Digest 3121
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