werner@utastro.UUCP (Werner Uhrig) (05/27/88)
In article <4980@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU>, cooper@odin.ucsd.edu (Ken Cooper) writes: > I posted a message a few days ago advertising four 1 Mb SIMMs for sale. > I've received many offers, and I just want to let people know what the > current high is, to prevent people from being disappointed when they > come in with a low bid. I have an outstanding offer for $1200 for all four. > > To reiterate: four 1 Mb 120 ns SIMMs for sale. High bid after June 6 gets > them. I am willing to package them in groups of 2 Mb if I find this to > be the best solution. > > Ken Cooper > > ARPA: cooper%cs@ucsd.edu > UUCP: ...!ucsd!sdcsvax!cooper > COMPUSERVE: 71571,407 Mr. Cooper has posted several messages regarding his SIMMs. Wheras I have no problem with someone posting a "for-sale", I think that it is abuse of the net to conduct a "bidding-war" as Mr. Cooper is doing here. He should not *ABUSE* Email for such things, nor should he post updates as to the latest price offered. I suggest that if a person wants to post an article for sale, he either announce a fixed price, or conduct bidding and other negotiations by phone. I suggest we adopt such a rule, so we can "stomp" on the next abuser; as it stands, Mr. Cooper may just have a "confused" understanding of "fair use" of news-groups .... on the other hand, until the net decides to adopt my suggestions (or similar) I may be the one that is confused ... ---Werner
daveb@llama.rtech.UUCP (It takes a clear mind to make it) (06/09/88)
In article <593@stech.UUCP> sysop@stech.UUCP (Jan Harrington) writes: >in article <2716@utastro.UUCP>, werner@utastro.UUCP (Werner Uhrig) says: >> In article <4980@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU>, cooper@odin.ucsd.edu (Ken Cooper): >>> To reiterate: four 1 Mb 120 ns SIMMs for sale. High bid after June 6 gets >>> them. I am willing to package them in groups of 2 Mb if I find this to >>> be the best solution. >> >> Wheras I have no problem with someone posting a "for-sale", I think that >> it is abuse of the net to conduct a "bidding-war" as Mr. Cooper is doing >> here. He should not *ABUSE* Email for such things, nor should he post >> updates as to the latest price offered... > >I agree with you about the bidding, but for a different reason. We all know >that there is a drastic shortage of DRAMs. I think that this bidding business >(and this isn't the first net to be infected with it) is taking an unfair >advantage of something that hurts us all and that we can't control. I think >it is simply unethical. (No, it's not illegal, just not very "nice".) > I don't think you can have it both ways. Either *.{forsale ,market} is prima facie unethical on Usenet, or you accept a seller's terms. If the sale isn't unethical, neither is charging "what the market will bear". The original poster was very upfront with his desire to auction them off to the highest bidder. What's the problem? It's not his fault that they are in short supply, nor that someone might be desperate to pay a very high price for immediate availability. The "news.admin" issue is defining the propriety of for sale postings. The tradition is that the forsale/market groups are for one shot items, with permanent offers in newproducts. It seems reasonable to take the free market view and bless the postings. The SIMMS offered are one shot. Where did anyone say forsale/market ads had to be for unprofitable or even "fair" prices? I, for one, don't want to try to debate what constitute "fair" prices in a volatile spot market. -dB {amdahl, cpsc6a, mtxinu, sun, hoptoad}!rtech!daveb daveb@rtech.uucp
roy@phri.UUCP (Roy Smith) (06/19/88)
werner@utastro.UUCP (Werner Uhrig) writes: > Wheras I have no problem with someone posting a "for-sale", I think that it > is abuse of the net to conduct a "bidding-war" as Mr. Cooper is doing here. Right on! I'm not 100% sure I like for-sale postings at all, but I'm willing to live with them. You might even be able to persuade me that for-sale postings in technical groups are OK, if done with class and restraint. But to engage in the kind of public bidding war we've been seing lately is crossing far over the line of what I consider being a good net citizen. Even if this weren't being done on the net, Cooper's going about it in a sleezy way. Auctions come in two basic varieties; sealed bid and public competition. Both have their risks and both have their advantages. But to advertize a sealed bid auction like Cooper did and then change the rules in bid-steam because he didn't like the bids he was getting is not fair. -- Roy Smith, System Administrator Public Health Research Institute {allegra,philabs,cmcl2,rutgers}!phri!roy -or- phri!roy@uunet.uu.net "The connector is the network"