From: kelli217@crosswinds.not.invalid   
      
   On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 16:56:09 -0400, Mike wrote:   
      
   > In article ,   
   >  Lamar Owen  wrote:   
   >   
   >> Mike wrote:   
   >>   
   >> > In *any* auction, the selling price is always determined by the   
   >> > highest bid,   
   >> > not the "second highest".  That's what auctions are all about.   If   
   >> > you want   
   >> > it, you outbid the other guy.  If *he* wins, then *he* has set the   
   >> > price. If *I* win then *I* have set the price.   
   >>   
   >> No, the second highest maximum bid sets the final selling price.  The   
   >> high bidder did not bid the selling price, but some price above the   
   >> selling price as a maximum; the second highest bidder's maximum is a set   
   >> threshhold below the selling price.  You're not directly bidding the set   
   >> price; eBay is bidding by proxy for you up to your max, and thus eBay   
   >> has set the price, based on the second highest maximum bid.   
   >   
   > Yeah, sure, right, uh huh, whatever.   
   >   
   > Look, you're never going to convince me of this silly idea of yours. In   
   > *any* regular auction - not "Dutch" - the high bidder sets the price.   
   > That's what bidding is all about.    He who wants it the most - and is   
   > therefore willing to spend the most - sets the price by bidding the   
   > largest amount.   
   >   
   > It has always been this way.   
   >   
   > Let's just agree to disagree, OK?   
      
   If you had been at a real-world auction, you would not have bid your   
   maximum right away; on eBay, you generally do.   
      
   If you immediately bid your maximum at a real-world auction, then that   
   maximum becomes the actual price of the item -- if you win the auction.   
   Even if you don't, though, it certainly raises the price faster than an   
   incremental bid would.   
      
   That's basically what these other people are saying: bid strategies are   
   different on eBay than they are in the real world, and different even than   
   they are in a silent auction.   
      
   However, I agree with you, even though I see the point they're trying to   
   make.   
      
   You see, most people at a real-world auction would simply continue to bid   
   incrementally as the auctioneer calls for new amounts. EBay simply   
   automates that incremental bidding. In a real-world auction, the   
   second-highest bidder determines what the final sale price will be, as   
   well, because the point at which they stop bidding is the point at which   
   the highest bidder wins the auction, without having to go all the way to   
   what his maximum might have been.   
      
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