[78-L] Auctions vs. "Make offer"

[Steve Thornton]

> > Here I beg to differ! I grew up in central Illinois, and 
> during the early
> > 70's
> > I attended a "farm auction" virtually every week-end. These 
> are/were "real
> > auctions," and the winning high bidder paid whatever his 
> winning bid was!
> > At one in particular, there was a 1938 State Farm road 
> atlas which I 
> > really
> > wanted...so when it came up I bid ten bucks right off the 
> top! Nobody
> > wanted to beat that (or they figured there was no point in 
> trying to 
> > out-bid
> > me?!)...so I bought it for my $10!
> 
> > ...stevenc
> 
> 
> Right,  Steve,  but the difference there was that you the 
> bidder got to set 
> your own  terms while also being privy to what the other 
> bidders were doing. 
> So if you wanted to bid $20 when the last bid was $5 to shut 
> it down and 
> scare off other bidders,  you could do that.
> 
> Not the same as a paper "auction/make offer sale"  where you 
> have no idea 
> what the other bidders are doing.  In the latter case you 
> might bid $20 in 
> hopes of winning,  but you have no idea if the other bid is 
> $25,  $15,  or a 
> buck.
> 
> Taylor

The nice thing about Ebay is, it only raises you to the amount necessary to
beat the other bidders. So if you bid $20, but no one else goes over $5, you
win it with $5.50.