quote:
Originally posted by pig:
Wouldn't it make sense to compare the bids and fire just the bigger one?
This was left by amh (forum member) on 5/23/03 at 2:19 AM:
Ringing
Ringing is a system whereby a group of people proposing to bid at an auction get togetehr and hold a private auction to see who will win an item on the basis that thereafter only the "winner" will bid at the real auction. The aim of course is to keep the price low for the benefit of the ringers.
In the UK at least, this is a serious criminal offence and fraud.
The suggestion is basically for AS to be an automated auction ring. It will not fly!
It is uncertain whether "ringing" is illegal in the U.S., but I suspect it is. But even if it isn't illegal, if ebay discovered that AS was ringing, they would shut AS down, either electronically or legally for restraint of trade. Just off the top of my head, you may want to research the Sherman Antitrust Act.
I'm sure you, like the rest of us snipers, would not want to see AS put out of business. So, that's why forum members, AS staff, and anyone that doesn't have a surreptitious purpose of destroying AS would energetically reject this.
As a side note: I find it fascinating that since 5/6/03, that this is the fourth person (clarkhawkins-5/6/03; sonofagunk-5/21/03; scottopoly-5/28/03) to purpose this, and yet, since the forum has been in existence, no one else has ever suggested this. I am not drawing any conclusion, nor am I inferring anything from this fact. I just find it interesting.