Re: A Golden Opportunity!

From: Watson A.Name - \ (NOSPAM_at_dslextreme.com)
Date: 08/18/04 

Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2004 23:40:49 -0700

"Dave Platt" <dplatt@radagast.org> wrote in message
news:10i565prlc48ia2@corp.supernews.com...
> In article <41228d17$1@mustang.speedfactory.net>,
> Michael A. Covington <look@ai.uga.edu.for.address> wrote:
>
> >> It's called sniping, and there are software pkgs like snipe-it that
will
> >> allow you to do this. But if the bidder bids the maximum sensible,
> >> informed bid on his first bid, then the sniper is just paying too
much,
> >> or else he needs it worse than you do.
>
> >My point. Sniping turns all auctions into sealed-bid auctions
(except for
> >the people who actually enjoy the sniping process as a game of
chance). The
> >published bids are *no* prediction of what people are actually
willing to
> >bid. So it's a sealed-bid auction disguised as an open-bid auction.
eBay
> >should make up their mind.
>
> Well, even sans sniping, the eBay auctions are only semi-open. If
> you're the leading bidder, others don't get to see what your maximum
> bid is... only that it's at least $MININUM_INCREMENT above the maximum
> bid of the next-highest bidder. An eBay auction would be fully open
> if and only if each bidder's true maximum bid was visible in real
time.
>
> I'm not at all sure that there's any way, even in theory, to prevent
> sniping. You'd always have to create some rule which would
> distinguish a "snipe" from a "non-sniping last-minute bid", and I
> really doubt that you could create such a rule which would not be
> largely arbitrary, and also rather easily circumvented.

Fuzzy timing? Make it so that each auction will end sometime during the
last minute (or some other predetermined value). If you submit your bid
at least 1 minute before the final time, you have a 100% chance of
bidding. But if you submit your bid during that last minute, the
bidding may have already ended.

> --
> Dave Platt <dplatt@radagast.org>
AE6EO

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