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Old 2007-07-16, 10:42 AM   #25
sperry
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Real Name: Scott
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Portland, OR
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dean View Post
What rules does it break? If you get outbid at the last moment and would have paid more, then you didn't really put in your maximum bid now did you? Next you will say calculators break the slide rules... Push button phones are an unfair advantage at winning radio contests? Speed Dial is right out... OK, those are probably before most everyone's time.

If you want to win a real auction, you have to be the last bidder. To win an timed auction, only have to have the highest bid submitted any time before the deadline. It is your choice as to when you bid. If you choose to play your hand early, all the better for me.

There are auctions that extend by 5-10 minutes when new high bids are made at the end, but those are not very common.
But most timed proxy auctions don't allow people to resubmit bids over and over, nor do they publish the current high bid as people submit their bids.

You put in one bid, and that's your maximum. When the time limit is up, you find out who was willing to pay the most, and it should award the item to the highest bidder by one dollar (or penny, or whatever the min bid unit is) over the 2nd highest bid.

But again, the bidding rules for eBay are the least of their problems... eBay and PayPal should have to have all the same security measures and resolution procedures as other stores, banks and credit card companies, or they should be non-profit. You can't treat your customers with the "all we do is provide people with a service that allows them to meet each other" and take a cut of the transactions as profit. It was that attitude that put Napster out of business.
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