Hi Darren,

Thanks for opening a new thread for this important topic, that you'd better titled "The Formal Auctions Thread" according to your suggestions :-):

: I thought i would take the opportunity to create a new thread where
: people could place their own thoughts on the concept of the
: informal auctions that have been recently discussed.

: Here are my own thoughts :

: - i believe the forum administrators ( Jeff &/or Mark ) should
: approve / give permission to those watches chosen to be worthy
: of this special treatment ( this prevents the more common models
: from being offered up )

: - once approved a clearly defined set of terms should cover the
: auuction, these should include -
: ( minimum bid , length of auction , if applicable a buy it now
: price that stops the auction, it should also have the obvious
: extra relative information such as payment requirements and
: delivery terms/costs )

: With these details in place a fair auction SHOULD be possible.
: There is room for an unethical seller to "ghost" shill
: bids and all potential bidders should be aware of this when
: placing their own offer values. It can take a lot of strength of
: charactor to stick to your own limits when participating in an
: auction, hopefully our forum members are upto the task.

I'm afraid that I have to disagree.

I think we do not need a new format or rules. Awareness is necessary. As you state correctly, even strong rules will not prevent fraud. But formal rules may yield the wrong illusion of a regulated, perfect, safe market.

I would prefer to see more discussions about positive or negative experiences, in a polite manner, of course. Maybe separate sub forums for these threads could help.

Let us educate each other. How to detect shill bidding? Which terms are necessary for an informal auction? How to pay safely? …

This should allow even a novice to better rate risks and chances of a potential deal. And sellers will learn how to post a finally successful offer and how to perform a mutually satisfying transaction.

I'd prefer totally informal transactions. In my eyes the usual sell ad with a price starts a reverse informal auction: the prospective buyer may always propose a lower price or better terms.

Cheers,

Mick