What's with the locks?

[Archive]

Posted By: Paul Muchinsky

If Larry felt he was shilled and lost out on a nice item for which he offered a fair price, he was angry and hurt and wanted to vent. If you are in this hobby long enough, it happens to everyone at least once. But what is the point of the encore presentations? Nobody compels us to participate in auctions against our will. It's like going hunting. Somedays you bring home nothing but a cold. If it happens repeatedly and you don't like it, take up crossword puzzles as your hobby. So I'm not real sympathetic to the chronic "volunteer victim" syndrome. But when you start accusing someone of repeatedly engaging in illegal and unfair trade practices, you should be most grateful for the partial anonymity electronic forums such as this afford us. Otherwise you can find yourself as the hunted, not the hunter. We get your point, Larry. Now what do you want to happen next? We try to shut down a business? We engage in a collective economic boycott of a business? The former requires substantial evidence (fraud is tough to prove, even if it really exists). The latter requires conspiratorial cooperation with the very people who are outbidding us. This is not my day job. It is my hobby, my release from the stresses of life. I presume most of us feel that way. Relax a bit. I'm sorry your hobby is eating at you. If you want real heartburn, try competing in a contest I read about: fastest time to solving Rubik's Cube, while blindfolded.