Joseph Bender-Zanoni wrote:
>
> The scam is if the reserve is unreasonable, like twice the market price.
> The reason is that at the moment the bidder places the bid (not knowing the
> reserve), they are committing to a sale should they meet the reserve, so,
> for some period of time, they are tying up their money. I am not talking
> about a legal sense here as the effect of a reserve in an auction is a long
> established principle, but I think from an ethical point of view, the
> purpose of a reserve is to protect a buyer from a lack of interest that
> does not attract a market price or higher. Falsely testing the market or
> setting up a negotiating list is not a legitimate purpose of an auction or
> a reserve. I realize in many cases the market price is subjective and
> people just don't know the value, but I don't think that was the case with
> the Confente.
>
> Consider: Gee, I wonder what bike X is worth, I think I'll run an Ebay
> auction with a really high reserve.
>
> Joe Bender-Zanoni
Totally correct, Joe. Almost all auctions are never quite what they seem to be (battle scared pros nod their heads here). But rest assured that _this_ particular bike _will_ be sold to the person willing to spend the most money.
Chuck "god I'm glad I got mine and mine gets ridden" Schmidt South Pasadena, California http://www.velo-retro.com (Reprints, Timeline, T-shirts)