Hello Jeff,

thanks for your response. You are right, you can never be 100% sure. All things that I pointed out were not against a special watch or person. I also like the 3646. It's a very very nice example. And I have no doubts that the seller is good guy.

I think we need a third person who handles the transaction and some rules. I'd be against a prolongation after a certain period. That means the watch is definitely sold to the highest bidder after one week. I'm not quite sure about a knockdown price yet. If its allowed, we will not see many straight sales in the future, because the seller always has more benefits to set a knockdown price and accept higher offers.

Kind regards,
Manuel

: I understand your position on this, but have a couple of points
: to get onto the table:

: -- In terms of the transparency, I can think of no marketplace less
: transparent than eBay. In five minutes, the seller can open
: accounts for three shills, and off we go. And the bricks and
: mortar are not much better. For example, what do we know about
: the recent sale of the Autavia Ref 3646 for $25,000? Was the
: buyer in the room / on the phone / on the internet? How
: confident are you that this was a real auction, free of
: manipulation?

: -- Yes, there are ample opportunities for deception and
: manipulation, as there are in most of the other marketplaces. In
: the end, you are buying the watch and you are buying the seller.
: In this instance, I like both of them!!

: Will be interested to see other views and reactions. Who knows,
: maybe we do some work and develop a more formal methodology for
: these informal auctions. Would you feel better if I were holding
: the watch? Receiving the bids? Still massive opportunities for
: abuse, and I am not looking for a new job!!

: I believe that these informal auctions are an interesting concept.
: Perhaps we can do some fine-tuning / model rules or guidelines,
: for everyone's benefit!!

: Jeff

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