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 Replies: 26 / Views: 4,869 |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10044 Posts |
Actually there is a logical explanation... I used to sell a lot of glass insualtors on ebay. One time a friend of mine had a bidding war over one of his 20.00 items. The insulator sold for over $400.00. On the insulator forum this same question came up... WHY? So I emailed and asked (also back in the day ebay allowed all email addresses to be see/contacted). It turned out the winner was a widow who said she had more money than she could ever use. Since she did not get out much, her "hobby" was bidding on ebay auctions for anything that caught her eye. She did not care what it went for, she simply loved the thrill of "Am I going to be able to get it?" She was no looney. She just had this as her hobby and also liked the fact others benefited from it. Though likely not the norm, at least hers was a reasonable explanation and was not from ignorance. |
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Moderator
 United States
16679 Posts |
I think she would like my ebay items :o swcoin.ecrater.com
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2214 Posts |
"Idiot" and "bidiot" are not very nice things to call someone. Just because people get carried away in their enthusiasm doesn't mean they have diminished mental capacities.
This ability to mock people anonymously on the Internet is so pervasive, and I think it's an ugly thing. The problem is that it's too easy to do when you don't have to be accountable for your words. If you met these people in person, you certainly wouldn't call them idiots to their faces.
We all get carried away emotionally from time to time. You wouldn't like it if someone called you an idiot. Nobody is an idiot. Keeping things civil is a good idea.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1391 Posts |
jpsned: The term refers to a persons behavior. Strictly speaking, if someone allows their enthusiasm to cloud their judgement and then they act in a manner not in their best interest, well then that is the very definition of the word. Quote:
"An idiot, dolt, or dullard is an intellectually disabled person, or someone who acts in a self-defeating or significantly counterproductive way. Archaically the word mome has also been used. The similar terms moron, imbecile, and cretin have all gained specialized meanings in modern times. An idiot is said to be idiotic, and to suffer from idiocy." Quote:
"The word gentleman originally meant something recognisable; one who had a coat of arms and some landed property. When you called someone "a gentleman" you were not paying him a compliment, but merely stating a fact. If you said he was not "a gentleman" you were not insulting him, but giving information. There was no contradiction in saying that John was a liar and a gentleman; any more than there now is in saying that James is a fool and an M.A. But then there came people who said - so rightly, charitably, spiritually, sensitively, so anything but usefully - "Ah but surely the important thing about a gentleman is not the coat of arms and the land, but the behaviour? Surely he is the true gentleman who behaves as a gentleman should? Surely in that sense Edward is far more truly a gentleman than John?" They meant well. To be honourable and courteous and brave is of course a far better thing than to have a coat of arms. But it is not the same thing. Worse still, it is not a thing everyone will agree about. To call a man "a gentleman" in this new, refined sense, becomes, in fact, not a way of giving information about him, but a way of praising him: to deny that he is "a gentleman" becomes simply a way of insulting him. When a word ceases to be a term of description and becomes merely a term of praise, it no longer tells you facts about the object: it only tells you about the speaker's attitude to that object. (A 'nice' meal only means a meal the speaker likes.) A gentleman, once it has been spiritualised and refined out of its old coarse, objective sense, means hardly more than a man whom the speaker likes. As a result, gentleman is now a useless word. We had lots of terms of approval already, so it was not needed for that use; on the other hand if anyone (say, in a historical work) wants to use it in its old sense, he cannot do so without explanations. It has been spoiled for that purpose." |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1208 Posts |
If auctions didn't create this effect in people, there wouldn't be auctions.
Classified ads would do the job fine, but ads don't create competition.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2214 Posts |
Quote:
jpsned: The term refers to a persons behavior. Strictly speaking, if someone allows their enthusiasm to cloud their judgement and then they act in a manner not in their best interest, well then that is the very definition of the word.
Quote:
"An idiot, dolt, or dullard is an intellectually disabled person, or someone who acts in a self-defeating or significantly counterproductive way. Archaically the word mome has also been used. The similar terms moron, imbecile, and cretin have all gained specialized meanings in modern times. An idiot is said to be idiotic, and to suffer from idiocy."
Quote:
"The word gentleman originally meant something recognisable; one who had a coat of arms and some landed property. When you called someone "a gentleman" you were not paying him a compliment, but merely stating a fact. If you said he was not "a gentleman" you were not insulting him, but giving information. There was no contradiction in saying that John was a liar and a gentleman; any more than there now is in saying that James is a fool and an M.A. But then there came people who said - so rightly, charitably, spiritually, sensitively, so anything but usefully - "Ah but surely the important thing about a gentleman is not the coat of arms and the land, but the behaviour? Surely he is the true gentleman who behaves as a gentleman should? Surely in that sense Edward is far more truly a gentleman than John?" They meant well. To be honourable and courteous and brave is of course a far better thing than to have a coat of arms. But it is not the same thing. Worse still, it is not a thing everyone will agree about. To call a man "a gentleman" in this new, refined sense, becomes, in fact, not a way of giving information about him, but a way of praising him: to deny that he is "a gentleman" becomes simply a way of insulting him. When a word ceases to be a term of description and becomes merely a term of praise, it no longer tells you facts about the object: it only tells you about the speaker's attitude to that object. (A 'nice' meal only means a meal the speaker likes.) A gentleman, once it has been spiritualised and refined out of its old coarse, objective sense, means hardly more than a man whom the speaker likes. As a result, gentleman is now a useless word. We had lots of terms of approval already, so it was not needed for that use; on the other hand if anyone (say, in a historical work) wants to use it in its old sense, he cannot do so without explanations. It has been spoiled for that purpose." Allranger: Fair enough. Point taken. But for me personally, I think calling someone an idiot or referring to their behavior as idiotic is too harsh and doesn't do anyone any good. I know if someone called me that, I'd be pretty angry. "Foolish" is a better, more accurate and less harsh term, I think. "Idiot" to me implies that the person has diminished mental facilities and can't do anything about it. "Foolish" just implies that they did something stupid and should have known better. P. S. I appreciate your sensitivity to the nuances of words. Where did you get these quotes? Edited by jpsned
12/20/2014 3:34 pm
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4594 Posts |
Remember, an auction does not exist to excite feverish ill-considered bidding.
An auction is designed to find the perfect balance between buyer and seller (assuming perfect information). An example is the open-outcry of the stock market.
-----Burton 50+ year / Life / Emeritus ANA member (joined 12/1/1973) Life member: Numismatics International, CONECA Member: TNA, FtWCC, NETCC, EveryCountry (online) coin club Owned by three cats and a wife of 40+ years (joined 1983) Author: 3rd Edition of the Sample Slabs book, https://www.sampleslabs.info/ |
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Pillar of the Community
New Zealand
526 Posts |
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....have the willpower to not go over the maximum you were prepared to pay......I just walk away if that happens to me.
Max is max.
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Valued Member
United States
337 Posts |
Why do I watch items sell high, one after the other, and when I list the same kind of item it gets ignored? where are these bidders when I list?
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Pillar of the Community
New Zealand
526 Posts |
Quote:
Why do I watch items sell high, one after the other, and when I list the same kind of item it gets ignored? where are these bidders when I list? Could it be something to do with building up a following? Or the number of feedbacks giving people a false sense of security? |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1751 Posts |
@ all ranger, I appreciate the time you've taken to post the definitions, I learned some facts that I found interesting.
Yes one needs to be careful in wording a forum post or any other written work. We take for granted the power of words to offend. It seems the online trend today is to be rude. I notice this, by listening to my fifteen yr old son when he games online. The language used is so rude and atrocious; it's little wonder there's so little respect in the society of the 21st Century. This is a very sad comment on the direction of society in general.
Sometimes I read utube comments and I'm appalled by what is written!!
Edited by pocket change 50
12/21/2014 7:20 pm
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Moderator
United States
189546 Posts |
Quote:
Sometimes I read utube comments and I'm appalled by what is written!! Agreed. It is why we prefer to embed the videos posted here. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1208 Posts |
Quote:
Remember, an auction does not exist to excite feverish ill-considered bidding.
An auction is designed to find the perfect balance between buyer and seller. That's what the auction houses want you to think. Everything they do, is designed to create excitement, competition, and over-spending. Everything. Think about it. This is how auction houses make money! The best, and most profitable, auctioneers are the ones that can create this fever pitch buying competition. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3843 Posts |
I agree with ratio411. Some of the auctioneers around lay it on pretty think with their puffery to the point where they almost misrepresent the item.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
856 Posts |
Back in the day I overbid quite a few times on ebay. I was new to the hobby, saw something that I'd not seen before or that was in better grade than the others I'd see. I had the money and wanted it and didn't much care how much I spent. It's taken a good number of years for me to learn that few items are unique. Even unique coins (in that they are hand struck, so no identical ones exist) others of the same type or variety will normally exist and some will be in worse condition, but generally some will also be better. I am on a more limited budget now so plan my purchases more carefully. I remember that if I want to keep upgrading my collection I need to sell off a few coins I don't want any more to fund it. So they'd better be coins others will find attractive and I can't have paid too much over the odds or I'll be waiting a few more decades before I get back what I paid! But I still snap up any better than usual examples if I can. Others may see my purchases and think "Why the heck did he pay all that for a regular coin?" But of course, my experience now tells me that coin may be regular, but you won't find it easy to get another in that grade. Sure. A lot of the time people may be spending more than they need due to inexperience. But they won't be the only ones that have done that. And sometimes they know more that we do and have good reason to pay what seems to be over the odds. Bidiots? Maybe. Maybe not. Best not tar everyone with the same brush, eh? Oh, and since it's getting close and I'll be working my last two shifts soon and I may not be posting much .. everyone here have a great Christmas, OK?     . Edited by Tom Goodheart
12/23/2014 06:50 am
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Posted 12/20/2014 12:36 am
