[photo-3d] Re: Ebay

[WHMoll@xxxxxxx]

Since everyone else has made their comments about Ebay, I am going to add 
mine.

Various comments have been made about "dirty tricks" on Ebay.  One of these 
is reserves.  Most live gavel-type auctions have some items being sold with a 
reserve.  There is nothing tricky or underhanded about it, as long as the 
existence of the reserve is annonced ahead of time.  If too many items have 
high reserves, people just stop going to the auctions.

As for sniping, live auctions are much worse.  After the auctioneer has 
begged for bids and is ready to hammer down your good deal, someone who has 
not bid on the item yet will start bidding and away it goes.  On Ebay, you 
can just put in a max bid near the end of the auction and go to sleep.  Max 
bids, of course, require a great deal of faith in the honesty of the auction 
firm and the soundness of their security.  Left bids at the NSA auction are 
the equivalent of the max bid.

I have spent many dollars with no problems.  The horror stories tend to be 
with products that also have horror stories from the shows and other live 
sales.

As to high prices, when two or people with money want the item, it can go for 
a rather pricey amount.  However, I have pciked up some items dirt cheap.  
It's just like a gavel-type auction, except that you don't need the physical 
stamina that you need for the live auction and the selection is much better