Sea-to-sky-games wrote: I don't know. It seemed like the conversation hasn't been forced. I've just been responding to questions or comments made by others. I figure it would be rude not to. If I can persuade some people, fine, but I wasn't aware there were site regulations on what constitutes an interesting discussion. Is there, like, higher costs for the admin the longer the thread?
It gets back down to the root, "If someone is willing to pay a certain amount of money for something, does that amount equate to value?" No, Sea it doesnt. It looks like it does, but that consumer driven price is not based on actual value, but rather a factor of other influences or values.
they are wrong and you are right, it is only going to lead to one thing: Pissed off people and hard feelings. Being 100% honest with you I can say that that is really starting to be the case....
Sea-to-sky-games wrote:I disagree. The hard feelings came the very moment I chimed in on the subject (c.f. all the insults I've dealt with). But you are free to characterize the situation as you see fit.
bclarkie wrote:Dude, you may be the biggest know-it-all that I have ever seen in my entire life and I have met quite a few. Perhaps once everyone starts to ignore every single one of your posts, you'll figure it out. Whatever....
bclarkie wrote:With all due respect Ian, there is a lot of what you think that a majority of the board does not see eye to eye with. As with everyone else, you are most certainly entilted to your own opinion on the matter and I would never attempt to take that away from you. I am quite happy to agree to disagree. That said, even though you do disagree with what most of what everyone else here thinks, you also have not gone out of your way to try and cram your own opinions on the matter down everyone elses throats either, regardless of what it is. The same cannot be said for our new found friend here.
Just to add a little statistic to this post(If I counted correctly), STS has exactly 54 posts here of which when I did a quick run through I counted a total of 39 instances where he either flat out said someone else was wrong or alluded to it directly. I can tell STS that you certainly did not come here to make friends, thats for sure.
Sea-to-sky-games wrote:By definition, when one ventures an opinion that goes against the grain there has to be some semblance of "this is right for this reason, this is wrong for that reason." Do you not agree? Can you have a conversation with people that have differences of opinion without telling someone -- "I disagree with you (i.e. I think you're wrong) and here's why.." Impossible.The one thing that I have not done is resort to personal attacks or put anyone in a negative light by characterizing their intentions, motives, or personal history. Yet this is precisely what I've experienced from many others. I can only think that means that some are not comfortable talking about some of their long held beliefs when they get challenged. If you disagree with me fine, but there's no need to resort to putting someone down.
Sea-to-sky-games wrote:This is nonsense. Buyers mistakenly assess the condition of the item for sale; buyers mistakenly assess the length of shipping to their location; buyers mistake the investment value of a good; buyers sometimes buy things they already have; buyers even make mistakes working out currency differences (although eBay does compute this automatically when the user's prefs are defined, although not shipping costs).The reason why mistakes occur is because it is costly for buyers to obtain perfect information. And even if perfect information were available, the price would reflect that (ie. buyers would bid more).The seller can't be held accountable for buyer mistakes just as buyers can't be held accountable for seller mistakes (or bad entrepreneurial decisions).I guess the only thing I wanted to add to this conversation is that exchange on eBay is voluntary. With the obvious exception of fraud, if one doesn't like the practices, the high prices, or whatever of a certain seller, you are free not to buy from them.
Sea-to-sky-games wrote:Then what is value?For a long time people felt that the value of a good was based on how much labor or effort was put into making it, then add in some value for the cost of the capital equipment necessary to produce it, then throw in some profit/rent on top of that. Maybe some objective practical usage of the good can be thrown in.But that theory of value cannot (and did not) explain why people value things the way they do. Only subjective judgement can determine value, least if the term is to have any useful meaning.
that is about as RUDE AND CONDESCENDING as you can get
Again, your getting off on the tangent of value based on other things, not actual item value. Your adding (or subtracting as it were) value due to other factors not based on basic merit (as defined by some of your parameters in the first paragraph). Its pretty much apples and oranges...the only problem is you keep saying "But its fruit!" and I keep saying "Of course its fruit, its just different fruit!" =) Seperate the individuals value from the item (based on any number of things). Thats where your getting confused.
gyg wrote:wow - 9 pages now - I want to say something constructive but I think this thread is beyond that now!!so instead, to quote DracoLOL
Well, if it makes you feel any better, I think that I am done now.
Sea-to-sky-games wrote:You suggest value is not subjective, but I'm scratching my head trying to figure out what instead you think it is.
You might not be unhappy or even the slightest bit bothered. But you still paid more than its worth. Those are the cold facts.