[geeks] Bah, humbug

[Lionel Peterson]

>From: Geoff Reed <geoffr at zipcon.net>
>Date: 2007/04/02 Mon PM 01:07:28 CDT
>To: The Geeks List <geeks at sunhelp.org>
>Subject: Re: [geeks] Bah, humbug

>Quoting Charles Shannon Hendrix <shannon at widomaker.com>:
>
>> I can't find anything like that.  Is this something you have to pay
>> extra for?  As a normal seller, I see no such option in the selling
>> pages or any of the documentation.
>> 
>> Think you can get a pointer to this?
>> 
>> I know that in some states, secret reserve is illegal in any kind of
>> auction.  I'm pretty sure they are illegal for all government auctions.
>> 
>> Secret reserve is a hot enough topic that there are a lot of google
>> hits.
>> 
>------
>
>from http://pages.ebay.ca/help/newtoebay/glossary.html#R
>
>Reserve Price
>The lowest price at which a seller is willing to sell an item in an
>auction-style listing. When sellers list an item, they can set a secret 
reserve
>price. If the highest bid does not meet the reserve price, then they're 
under no
>obligation to sell the item to the bidder. This feature lets sellers set a 
low
>starting price to stimulate bidding among buyers, yet ensures that the item 
will
>not be sold below a price they're willing to settle for. eBay charges an
>additional fee for setting a reserve price, but it is fully refunded if an 
item
>sells. For more information, see the Fees page.
>
>the relevant sentence in the above is "When sellers list an item, they can 
set a
>-=>secret reserve<=- price."  arrow highlighting is my doing
>
>what people are referring to as a "secret reserve" is the reserve option.  
it is
>secret in the fact that until the reserve is met it is not shown to anyone 
but
>the auction creator.

IIRC, the reserve is not indicated until the first bid is placed, then there 
is a comment to the effect "Reserve not met" next to the currnet bid. The 
bidder is alerted to the existance of the reserve *after* they place their 
bid. The dollar amount of the reserve is secret until it is exceeded.

The only real problem is that the bidder who tries to snipe the object at the 
very end of the auction may be frustrated by not exceeding the reserve, and 
not having a chance to re-bid before the auction closes...

Lionel