The whole basis for my argument rests, not by backing of any kind of forum rules, but by the idea that we should treat GH as a community of individuals who share a common love for keyboards. I envision this community as it could and should be as a place that
does not have to succumb to the same greed and selfishness that plagues our world. GH can be an escape from the nature of our world economy that is to maximize profits at all costs.
I ask you and everyone else... Are we looking to enjoy our time and money spent here, trying new keyboards and switches at reasonable prices, or are we here as individuals seeking to maximize our profits for items wanted fellow members?
um i've sold items to someone who literally signed up to GH to PM me asking for my paypal address to buy my item.
Why the heck do you think ebay's market will be different from GH's classified market?
If auctions are moved off the forum and onto places like eBay, we will see plenty less drama here. Not only that, it might encourage GH members to stop being greedy bastards and sell their items reasonably. When items are reasonably priced, there is hardly ever a need for an auction.
The prices won't change, it won't magically be less if sent on ebay, it'll just be the seller taking 13% less in the final cost due to ebay/paypal fees.
Or are you trying to push this to "punish" any auction seller?
Correct. The prices of auctioned items such as CCs won't magically change. Again, these auctions would not take place on the forum. I'm not trying to "punish" the auctioneer as much as the greedy auctioneer has already punished the community by creating outrageous prices for certain items.
Why does an item such as a CC have to auctioned? Why can't it just be sold it in the classifieds in a simple manner? Of course, items such as CCs are in very high in demand, and as such, economics 101 would tell us that it can be sold for much more than the original cost. Thus, this brings us to a crossing point: should we allow members to make a significant profit off other members via auctions? Or should their profiteering auctions be taken elsewhere -- eBay?
Again the #1 problem with everything discussed regarding auctions comes back to Clacks these days.
Want to just make a blanket rule about not dealing clacks on GH? Would that make people feel better?
Yes, CCs have brought this issue of auction profiteering to the attention of the admin staff. While auctioning off CCs to the highest bidder tend to rustle the most jimmies, other items such as Korean customs are also auctioned off in the same manner.
I think you're missing the point here. Once the item goes on eBay, it is viewable by users of GeekHack, DT, OTD, and EVERYONE ELSE.
You don't have to be logged in to view classifieds. Once it gets posted here, it's viewable to GH, DT, OTD and everyone else. Sure you have to be a registered GH member to PM the poster, but registration is free.
Whereas on eBay, you have to have eBay / paypal and all that jazz. Also, some people dislike eBay's practices and no longer frequent that site. Finally, I'd like to keep my keyboards in the community where they'll be used if at all possible.
Now, you can still do all of those things, but eBay does not necessarily reach a broader interested audience than the GH classifieds.
Yes, quite obviously, but the point is to take the auctions OUT of GH and onto off-site platforms such as eBay. There's one thing people keep forgetting here:
you don't have to have an auction. Simply price the item you want to sell for a reasonable price and someone will buy it. From what I can tell in my experience here, auctions have been used largely to maximize profits -- not because someone did not know what an item is worth.
