In a message dated 9/21/2004 2:00:03 PM Eastern Daylight Time, wickedsky@sbcglobal.net writes:
<< I guess what gets real old is the "policing" of eBay by SOME of the CR members. Yes, it is fine to point out that joe-seller is mis-representing an item. But (between you and I only), many people from the CR list will email a bidder (which is a MAJOR violation of eBay rules) with the intent of "educating" said bidder about the item he or she is bidding on. And CR justifies this by saying, "well if I were at a live auction and about to bid on something, I would appreciate it if Joe Blow would step in and point out to me the problems of the auction." Well, this is not a live auction. This is a cyber auction. People make their own decisions and have to live with them. >>
Contacting other bidders is definitely improper, but as far as the CR list goes, having members blow the whistle on bogus eBay offerings seems good to me. I fall back to the old scenario of us all "hanging around in the garage with friends".
For example, if I was looking at an early dated NR rear derailleur and one of us knew it had been assembled incorrectly, with a mish mash of parts, not NOS but a fudged up inoperative part, I would hope that person would clue me in. (Some of you may remember something like that sort of happening way back when...) If someone knew that information and just quietly let me take my lumps and get screwed, well..that is no friend at all, but an accomplice in the act of deception!
If one of us is selling something and we are less than forthright about a questionable condition or negative attribute, we deserve to have that outed and cannot blame others for being honest.
Yes, occasionally a seller really doesn't know and acts in ignorance in representing an item which turns out to have flaws, but they shouldn't kill the messenger when the flaw is revealed.. And of course, the whistle blowing person can be considerate and not be ugly about the disclosure, assuming first that the seller was innocent of being deceitful..................
My 2 scents (sic)
Dale Brown cycles de ORO, Inc. 1410 Mill Street Greensboro, North Carolina 27408 336-274-5959 fax 336-274-6360 <A HREF="http://www.cyclesdeoro.com">cyclesdeORO.com</A> <A HREF="http://www.classicrendezvous.com./main.htm">ClassicRendezvous.com</A>