Posted by Barry on July 04, 2001 at 19:52:45:
In Reply to: Re: ebay auction-berliner type cuffs posted by Stan Willis on July 04, 2001 at 13:51:09:
I agree; which is why I wrote "If". :-)
It seems to me that an easy case can also be made for the opposite situation: A valuable item is lost in the flotsam of fury handcuffs and goes for a song because those in the know failed to point it out at the last moment. Which, IMO, is unfortunate; obviously for the seller, and in the long run for the buyer, because it may devalue the item in the eyes of the next buyer. The auction process should be more than just a game of chance between those in the know, and those who don't.
IMO, a person who attempts to influence prices (up or down) by knowingly putting out wrong information is a scoundrel. It seems to me that the solution to this problem is to put out more (correct) information, before, during, and after; which in the case of an internet auction is easy since an item may "sell" over many days. Failing to doing so gives the scoundrel too much advantage.