In simultaneous auctions with identical start and end times, identical
shipping terms, ...? The only explanation that makes any sense to me is
that people are accurately stating their maximum bids in auctions, and
sometimes you end up with two people with high maximum bids. With (perhaps)
an hour of work, they could understate their maximum, then compare that
auction to others if they're outbid. Entirely possible that some folks
place a higher cost on the hassle than the expected price difference. But
it's quite easy to observe the incredible range of prices ($400 - $3000) for
pretty much identical items. It would be interesting to correlate a buyer's
Ebay experience level, as proxied by his rating (higher rating means more
successful transactions) with price paid. I'd expect that more experienced
buyers know to understate and reevaluate.
Eric Crampton
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2000 5:37 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: Top 10 Economic Puzzles
I collect baseball games (board games) and the variance in price for those
is
pretty high. Sometimes a Milton Bradley game from 1970 goes for about $30
and sometimes it can go as high as $100. I don't think there is a huge
difference in condition.
Cyril Morong
