From: Steve Grammont (islander@midmaine.com)
Date: Sat Nov 20 2004 - 16:27:30 PST
Hi Dan,
> thought that you said that you and eleven other people decide which
>one of your group will bid. That group comes to mind. If each single
>bid represents 12 people that have informal or formal agreements, that
>means that instead of 144 people going at it, there are only 12. How is
>that in the seller's best interest, again? :-)
Ah... but out of that 12 perhaps only one would be interested in the
given item (or none or more). The issue is that hundreds of non-
associated likely bidders, out of millions of possible bidders, can come
in at any time and place a bid. That changes the whole equation and
eliminates the possible downside of collusion to the seller.
Even if there are tons of informal groups within a speciality, which I
doubt, remember that it only takes two competitive bidders to drive up
the bidding. No need for the other 10. The most expensive item I ever
bought was between me and another guy (whom I know, but don't have an
agreement with). The start price was $1, the final price was nearly
$800. We were the ONLY two who bid on the thing in 7 days. I think
everybody else smelled the blood and kept far, far away from us :-) The
seller made out handsomely since arguably it was only worth $400.
>You mention a case where it might help and I don't disagree that it
>could happen. I would consider that, at best, a unique circumstance, as
>there are a load of assumptions in that scenario.
That was a real life example :-) I have tons of other ones like that
too. Happens quite frequently.
>Truth is that, as buyers, we are in it for the best circumstance for
>ourselves (no collusion) or our group (collusion), shortterm or
>longterm. It ain't charity - I would think that we could agree on that.
Yup. But as a frequent seller I use the simple "what is good for the
goose is good for the gander" test. As a seller do I mind people doing
this sort of collusion? Nope, not at all. I've even told friends to not
bid on items I have for sale because I have another one. The high bidder
*and* my friend potentially benefit at the same time. I'm the only one
that potentially suffers.
>Fun topic.
Quite interesting! Ryan's follow up comments are a good read too.
>Oh... I was in Maine for the first time the day before
>yesterday. Beautiful!
Sure is :-) Thanks for saying so.
Steve
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