Active Auction Items

Hi Everyone.

Vlad, I can’t say that I agree with your philosophy of not commenting on active eBay auctions or items for sale anywhere else for that matter.
Bill had a very good and valid point in that he said we shouldn’t declare if we have an intention to bid on some item. I totally agree with this because by doing so we can affect the bidding of other forum members, or even discourage them from bidding at all on an item which they might otherwise have bid successfully.
Apart from not declaring an intention to bid I can’t think of any other valid reason why forum members should not comment on active auctions or items for sale. In fact we have had some interesting topics on such items in the past. Remember the recent Fed-Sport just to name one!
I would go even further by saying that we have a certain duty to each other to comment on active auctions, especially if we see that an item is suspicious and may be a fake. Not all our members are experienced collectors, and those who are, or those that see something is not right should warn the others in order that they do not buy some expensive item, only to find out later that it is worthless.
Not all faked items are obvious, sometimes the fake looks good, but there may be some minor error that only the most experienced might see. For example one letter in an engraved name being slightly wrong, or some slight error on the spelling of an engraved name, or perhaps a serial number that is not in keeping with what it should be.
Even experienced collectors can be fooled, or may just not notice some detail which is incorrect on the auction item. So if we notice anything like that we must tell each other whilst the auction is still active.
Imagine the situation if one of our forum members paid a huge amount of money for an auction item, and then when he had paid the money and the auction was no longer active another member decided to make a post saying that he had seen the item was a fake, but didn’t want to comment because the auction item was still active!!!!
I had just described the worst possible scenario, but there are other occasions when it is a good thing to comment on active auction items. I for one rarely look on eBay. This is mainly because my internet connection here in Azerbaijan works slowly, and I just can’t be bothered waiting three minutes every time I want to open another page.
So it’s good that forum members sometimes bring our attention to some item that we would otherwise miss.
Also some items are just interesting or amusing, (like the Japanese book that Vlad posted). So it’s good to share these things, and why not?
I know a lot of forum members don’t like to comment on active auction items, but apart from the one valid reason that Bill mentions of not declaring an intention to bid, can anyone give me one other good reason why we shouldn’t comment?
best wishes, Jim.[:)][:)][;)]

Hello again to all,

Vlad, I know that you generally not in the habit of posting regarding active auction items, but I think you did this just yesterday, (FotosniperxTTL in Germany).
If I read the post correctly you posted a warning about this camera. I think that this illustrates my point, we need to exhange information freely and to warn each other when necessary. So I'm sure that to post this information, (even though concerning an active item) was absolutely the correct thing to do.
Best regards, Jim.[:)][:)][;)]

Hi Jim,

Sorry I did not have a chance to reply earlier but here it is:

I meant that I personally not in habit of posting active eBay items for the following reasons: as this site owner I have certain ethical responsibilities to members and the advertisers as well as some liabilities. By that I mean that very often rare camera dealers give me permission to place item in the catalog in return of acknowledging this dealer either by link or a graphical banner when that happens they become defacto "advertisers", not even mentioning that I also have many personal and business relationships with a lot (actually most) of these dealers.

Now before I go any further I want to say that this forum practices free speech, I do not encourage or discourage postings of links or opinions of any kind, nothing is censored or biased, you are free to post anything you'd like as long as it's not obscene and stays on topic.

Having said that, if I personally post a link to a questionable eBay item in the forum and it gets flamed and the seller is either a friend or a sponsor (by sponsor I mean not monetary but content sponsor), it will put me in a very difficult position with that individual because I just did something that affects their business and as a site owner where this link was posted it is not acceptable, since a lot of time the livelihood of these sellers depends on the profit from the items they sell. When someone else posts anything on the forums and calls it fake, it is fine in my opinion since it is a public forum. So I have to be very careful what I post myself into forums or catalog for discussion that affects actual business of someone as I still want keep this site going and not to have any legal recourse that will cause its shutdown.

And as I said I do not discourage anyone posting eBay links in the forums, I am just wary of doing it myself for the reasons state above, I hope you understand.

Best regards,
Vlad

Hi Vlad,

First let me say that of course I understand and accept that your position is very different from the rest of us. I realise that you must be careful what you say and I fully appreciate that.
I will keep as short as I can. Many forum members say that they will refrain from commenting on active auction items. I don't agree, and I don't see even any point in that.
If we see something interesting to others that we perhaps don't want for ourselves it helps everybody, (including the seller) if we point it out. On the other hand if we point out something we think may be faked or is suspicious then again the would be buyer can decide for himself if he wants to buy, at least he has all the facts and can purchase with his eyes open.
It would be wrong of us not to help other forum members when we know we are able to.
Best wishes, and regards, Jim.[:)][:)][:)]

Jim,

I understand your point of view and I'm definitely not saying you can't or shouldn't do it. I think it should be a matter of personal preference, some people are more private than others when it comes to auctions and should not be frowned upon or blamed for it. I'm asking everyone to try to treat this matter with open mind and be sensitive to other members' point of view. That's all I'm asking for. Consider all consequences. It is surely not a straightforward issue. [:)]

Cheers,
Vlad

Hi Vlad,
I could't agree more! All I am saying is that we should't be afraid to comment if we wish to and not to treat active auctions as a taboo subject. Each individual should be free to comment or not as they wish.
Of course it's equally important that we act responsibly by always thinking of the possible consequences of what we say. It goes without saying that just as in everyday life we must always be aware of the sensitivities of other people, and to think before we speak.
Cheers and best wishes, Jim.[:)]

Agreed [:)]