Cale wrote on May 26^th, 2011 at 9:53pm:


Cale, you should really read up on shill bidding. 

http://www.google.com/search?&q=why+is+shill+bidding+illegal

The bidder often ends up paying more, because there is inconvenience cost and opportunity cost of wasting time bidding on a bullshit auction, and those costs are often higher than the amount you could save by waiting and taking part in a legit auction. 

Basically, it fucks over pareto efficiency. 

It also psychologically creates unwarranted hype around whatever is being sold, causing people to think it's more valuable than it actually is.  If a charlatan sells someone a bottle of water for $500 by saying it is divine holy water blessed by god, it doesn't mean it's worth $500. 

Also, whether or not he really is lying, the seller is a fucking douche. 

Cale wrote on May 26^th, 2011 at 10:57pm:

I care, because it's a shitty thing to do. 
Quote:

I think I've demonstrated in my previous post why there's no equivalency between "what you're willing to pay after shill bidding" and what an item is actually worth. 

Quote:

Of course there's no proof and there never will be.  That's why so many douchebags get away with it on ebay, because it's almost impossible to catch if they're careful enough. 

There is however, lots of circumstantial evidence:

-Multiple posters, including some who are very well known on khyber, saying the prices are BS. 

-Previous scroll selling for 9 FRDS, whereas the "high" bid is 20+.  And if were to take his word for that, even higher (25+?), since he's no longer posting bids. 

-No one coming forward to say they bid even remotely close to that. 

-He's a fucking douche with an inability to read properly and a misunderstanding of what the word "logic" means.  Note this is not an ad hominem.

Damn, if I played more than once a month I'd sell the ones I have and be a Billionaire 

Uhgungawa wrote on May 27^th, 2011 at 12:32am:


Or...you could just send them to me. 

(If you're talking about SoS scrolls, 1 will do! If you're talking about Red Dragon Scales, yeah send them all to me!)

That's why the whole "deciding what the item is worth to you" part comes first.  When that part comes first, the shill bids can't affect your price.  You already know how high you're willing to go.  If you get suckered into going higher because of shill bids, then that's your own damned fault.

popejubal wrote on May 27^th, 2011 at 1:23am:


And if you've forgotten that rule you can always fall back on the, "go in the bathroom, jerk off and then see if you still want to take her home" rule.

Cale wrote on May 27^th, 2011 at 1:16am:


^ This

A fool and his money are soon parted - Thomas Tusser

Shill bidding is less useful when the winning bid is
enforced
and/or taxed
which, I didn't really read the thread but I am fairly sure, aren't happening here.

Terebinthia wrote on May 27^th, 2011 at 6:03am:


I know people that farm von 1/2/3/4 and 5.  I think it is more preference really.

With the spell changes, BB is awesomesauce - even more so then before.  Get bakc in the groove and the power of solo farming is yours.

Eladiun wrote on May 27^th, 2011 at 9:20am:



Like me.

I gotta say that I don't think an SoS scroll is any more valuable than a Charged Gauntlets, Gloves of Claw scroll.  They are all anywhere from 4-7 reds in value depending on how desperate the buyer and or seller are.

Supply trails demand for all three. 

I don't think it's inappropriate to comment on the price of an item in an auction thread, however.  If someone is putting something up for bid a comment about recent pricing/historical pricing is fine and appropriate.  Not everyone knows how much things are valued at. 

The buyer is certainly free to ignore historical pricing and/or the opinions presented and bid higher (or lower) based on their personal perspective.

I think the seller reacted quite agresively to such posts.  That leads me to believe he/she was not motivated to make a fair trade with a buyer.  Not saying that I know if the seller was posting false offers that did not actually exist.  But clearly, the seller did not want community opinions on the value of his merchandise to be discussed.  Thus the seller knew the offers were far over fair market value.

a seller with a clear conscience does not react the way this one did.

I just wanna say, trades go for what people will trade for them.  Some people will pay what may seem like to you outrageous sums.

Fact of the matter is, it doesn't really matter if any of you do or do not like it.  If someone will pay the seemingly outrageous cost, why take less when that person will pay more? Business is about profit, trading can be viewed as supply and demand business.  He has the supply, some people just have a higher demand.

Oh well, suck on a lollipop if it really makes you that buttsore.