Psychology researchers have suggested fear of losing drives up auction prices, not more “rational” economic principles. So the next time you sense you’re overbidding on eBay, you probably are, not due to any theoretical “price the market will bear,” but instead due to some competitive wiring in your brain that says win at all costs.
GoDaddy Auction VP Gets Slashdot Treatment
There’s nothing improper about the VP of aftermarket domain auctions bidding up domain prices, says GoDaddy, but they’ve banned employees from participating in the future anyway, just to make everybody happy. And likely, to make the all the dirty looks go away. What looked like an idle comment in NamePros.com’s domain forum stirred up the hornets nest a bit. The comment from a senior forum member going by Stevie read this way:
Baron Pulls Twitter Auction
Knowing the value of a web-celeb’s Twitter account will have to be on hold. Andrew Baron, founder of the well-known video podcast Rocketboom, placed his name-brand account up for sale on eBay last week, but has since deleted the auction listing.
Verizon Cleans Up At Spectrum Auction
Verizon came out as the big winner of the FCC’s 700MHz broadband spectrum auction, spending somewhere between $8 to $10 billion on a huge swath of the coveted C-Block, previously and ironically dubbed "the Google Block."
FCC Auction Bidding Tops $11.5 Billion
The big prize, a slice of spectrum covering the US, has stalled at a bid of $4.29 billion, under the Federal Communication Commission’s reserve price of $4.6 billion.
eBay Ends Auction Of Iraqi Relic
A 4,000-year-old clay tablet thought to have been smuggled illegally from Iraq was removed from eBay just before the close of an online auction.The tablet had a wedge-shaped cuneiform script and had been put up for sale on eBay’s Swiss site. It caught the eye of a German archaeologist, who contacted the German police. They passed the information to their Swiss counter parts.Authorities have launched criminal proceedings against the seller, who was identified only as a resident of Zurich.
Ottawa to Hold Auction of the Wireless Spectrum
Tom Peters suggested that for many big companies the words "We’re No Worse Than the Other Guy" could be the company motto emblazoned in gold letters over the entrance.
He was describing banks but according to a recent survey on customer service the cell phone companies are the lowest on the totem pole.
Singapore Internet Marketers & eBay Auction Specialists
…If you haven’t heard the news, you need to read this post.
The second installment of Jo Han Mok and Matt Bacak’s Internet Millionaire Incubator hits Singapore this Friday.
eBay Buys Auction Management Software, Site
“German engineering” is often a selling point in and of itself. And so I have to wonder how many times that phrase came up while eBay was in the process of acquiring ViA-Online GmbH, a German auction management software company.
Google Undecided On Joining Wireless Auction
With a nationwide transition to digital television slowly taking place, Google may be interested in participating in the federal auction of the 700MHz wireless bands.