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Re: Aquabid vs F&EL
Gerry Blanchette wrote:
> On Sun, 09 Mar 2003 22:12:14 -0800, Wright Huntley <jwwiii at pacbell_net>
> wrote:
>
>> New name means no feedback. That means no sale. Too simple? I neither
>> buy from nor sell to folks with zero feedback messages. Too risky for
>> anything but trivial amounts I'm 100% willing to lose.
>>
>
> And this is where honest folks with either nothing to sell or have no
> purchase history on the site get left out in the cold. If all of the
> reputable sellers with good quality stock followed such a policy,
> interested hobbyists are forced towards less reputable sellers or those
> with inferior product to acquire their stock. I've got money and
> interest, but I'm essentially ostracized because I don't frequent the
> auction sites.
We are painfully close to turning this into a circular argument, here,
Gerry. :-)
Why do all these utterly off-the-wall objections appear to come from folks
with zero auction experience? ;-)
There are many, many ways to solve such minor problems. Lots of e-bay
sellers just say in their ad to "e-mail me if you have no feedback." They
then use other means and shrewd communication to see if the bidder is
genuine. Most smart-ass little kids who are just playing are not smart
enough to pull off the fraud, so they just get dumped. [They also get
kicked off the auction site fairly fast, so there are not lots of them there.]
Likewise sellers with no feedback can easily be asked to provide more
information and/or references before you trust them with your money.
[Auction rules always require such arrangements be done *before* the
auction closes, BTW.] It is fair, safe, and no one needs to be "ostracized."
One can always make a transaction virtually 100% safe by using (and paying
for) an escrow agent. Escrow agents are a particularly specialized vulture
that preys on the more paranoid among auction folks for small
transactions. They are an invaluable service in many larger deals, not
unlike the title company in real estate.
I recently bought a sat. receiver from a guy in NY. He delayed shipment
two days because he had misplaced the power cord. When he found it, he
refunded $20 of what I had sent via Paypal and shipped it all by overnight
at *his* expense. I had asked for neither. I had agonies trying to figure
how to say what I thought of that in only 80 characters when I sent his
feedback to e-bay. [Folks reading it may get the impression that I think
he can walk on water.]
On-line auctions are a functioning fact of life until they get taxed or
regulated out of existence. My experience is that they often are better
operated and a nicer way to do business than some of the horror stories I
have heard about F&E and related COE enforcement problems.
Without objective, fairly immutable standards, it is hard to get anything
done, effectively. What AKA really brings to the table in fish and egg
exchange is a chance to standardize the names, locations and collection
codes so we know what we are buying. That positively enhances the hobby
and makes it much nicer for all of us and for the fish.
COE enforcement is dicey, subject to lots of litigation, and serves best
when never actually called into play, sort of like the FDIC sticker on
your bank's window. The only time I ever *heard* of a member being ejected
from AKA was when Dale Weber told me that he was. [He wasn't telling the
truth, as I subsequently discovered.]
Free and virtually-free auction software is readily available through a
minimal web search (I even have a copy on my confuser). Any time someone
feels that Aquabid does not meet our needs, it is an easy thing to set up
a site that competes head-to-head with that one. The owner of Aquabid
knows that very well, so I doubt if things will ever be allowed to get
very far out of line. [I'm certainly way too lazy to do it, anyway.]
Wright
--
Wright Huntley -- 209 521-0557 -- 731 Loletta Ave, Modesto CA 95351
"For at least a century ... the U.S. Geological Survey has
consistently reported that America had only
about 10 years worth of oil left." -- Washington Times, May 2002
www.sfbaka.net
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