really it just comes down to butthurt in the end.
Banning Auctions but having set prices like my examples above will still cause people to complain about selling at high costs.
The only way to stop the people who are complaining is completely shutting down the classified section.
But even then they'll still reference different threads and ebay links about how people are ripping so and so off.
So its a no win situation.
I think auctions encourage inflated prices because it enforces primitive competitiveness in us. It's a no-win situation, as you say, because the status quo of the classifieds has allowed for unchecked sales that have led to many complaints. Ideally, it would have been wise for the GH administration to implement strict guidelines for sales from the beginning. This would have socialized the members and future members into
sensible selling.
However, the forum is not in this "ideal" and never will be. So, some work must be done towards putting in place a set of rules and encouraging a culture of
sensible selling on the forum. By doing this, we can hope to come closer to this "ideal" and away from the horrendous, maximization-of-profit status quo.
Let me give you a scenario in which you state people will still complain about high prices.
Ex. 1 (auction-based system):
Seller wants to sell an item (a keyboard) in like-new condition that was initially purchased for $125. Instead of being sensible and simply setting a price of $110-$130 or so, the seller sets up an auction. Remember, we're in a community, right? Instead of selling this keyboard to a fellow geekhacker for a sensible price, the auction leads to competition over the item which logically raises its price to non-sensible levels.
So you may ask, what is the problem with selling to the highest bidder as long as that person is willing to pay for it? This practice creates ever-increasing prices for such items for future sales. Other potential sellers of a similar item will see that the identical keyboard sold for X amount of money (significantly more than the initial price) and will want to replicate this profit.
Ex. 2 (auctions forbidden)
Seller wants to sell an item (a keyboard) in like-new condition that was initially purchased for $125. The seller knows how much he or she paid for it initially and will price it accordingly -- somewhere within $110-$130. So, how does this sale differ from the auction sale? A prospective buyer will look at the sensible price tag and will either choose to buy or not to buy. If the price is sensible and the specific keyboard being sold is sought by many, then the keyboard would be sold within a relatively short time. Thus, competition still exists because the person who messages the seller the fastest usually wins.
This form of competition does not artificially raise the price of the item for sale. However, this kind of sensible selling requires that members within the community will adhere to such a practice. That is why it is important for such a change to come from the top down: from the admin team -> elder members -> new members.
