[time-nuts] OT: eBay bidding question

Thu Apr 26 13:00:36 UTC 2007

Rex -

Robert explained it very well. Glad my computer had a hiccup while I was in
the process of doing so. When I look at the bid list Bidder 1 is still
there. He did not disappear as you say, he was simply outbid by Bidder 2's
second attempt. Bidder 5 could be a shill bidder as he incrementally raised
the price till it got to $3000. When bidder 8 realized his bid was the same
as bidder 6's, after a little deliberation he raised his and is now on top
by the correct bid increment. At this point we do not know bidder 8's
highest bid (known as his proxy bid), and maybe we never will. Maybe he only
bid $4050 exactly to outbid bidder 6. You not only have to see the bid
amounts, you have to look when they were placed also. There is still over a
day to go, so, who knows where it may wind up. So far every bid that you see
is the maximum amount placed by a given bidder at the time shown, except for
bidder 8. Regards - Mike

Mike B. Feher, N4FS
89 Arnold Blvd.
Howell, NJ, 07731
732-886-5960

-----Original Message-----
From: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On
Behalf Of Rex
Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 8:23 AM
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] OT: eBay bidding question

On Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:29:38 +0100, "Robert Atkinson"
<robert.atkinson at genetix.com> wrote:

>Hi Rex,
>It's quite simple when you get used to it.
>The list is ordered in bid value, highest at the top.
>If two bids are for the same amount, the one that was placed first takes
>precedence (and wins if they are at the top at auction end).
>This is why bidder 6 is at the top, he bid on the 22nd, before bidder 8
>on the 25th. Bidder numbers are time sequential.
>The other issue is proxy bidding, Bidder 6's bid would only have shown 1
>bid increment (about $10 in this case) above the next lowest bidder
>until his limit was reached ($4000). If he had bid $4000.01 (or bidder 8
>had bid $3999.99) there would have been no confusion. This is why some
>bidders put an odd few pence (cents) at the end of their bid.
>
>HTH.
>Robert.

Yes, I understand the basic principle, but how can we explain the
sequences and what bids remain recorded?

Surely Bidder 1 was alone at the start of bidding. So Bidder 2 outbid
him with a bid of $250 or more. Why did the first bid disappear? Maybe
there was a reserve? Then I guess Bidders 1 and 2 swapped bids. Ok,
those values got saved for some reason. Bidder 3 doesn't show before
bidder 4. Does he become bidder 3 even if he looses to bidder 2? How
come Bidder 6 doesn't show up until the very end? He must have been
involved at some point between bidder 5 on the 21st and bidder 7 on the
23rd. Say bidder 6 had a max bid of 4000 and that's why we see him
winning at the end. Then why does bidder 5 have that string of recorded
bids. Bidder 6 should have won all those bids. 

If bidder 8 places a bid with a max of 4000 on the 25th and then bidder
6 responds with another bid of 4000 he wins because he had a lost bid
earlier. That surely can't be. Or bidder 6 places a max bid of 4000
after 3000 from bidder 5 so he is winning with 3010 then bidder 8 bids a
max of 4000. Bidder 6 wins the tie because he has a history. I guess it
could be, but the recorded date of Apr 22 for the 4k bid would be wrong.

Actually I guess this newish way of listing as bidder 1, 2, ... conveys
more information than if it was just user names.

I'm sure there must be a sequence that explains what is listed but I
can't quite see it all. 

Can anyone propose a sequence of bids on dates that explains this list
of recorded bids and dates? I guess there must be one but it is evading
me.

>
>	*Bidder*    Bid Amount    Date of bid 		
>	Bidder 6    US $4,000.00  Apr-22-07 05:14:15
>	Bidder 8    US $4,000.00  Apr-25-07 00:49:30 
>	Bidder 5    US $3,000.00  Apr-23-07 19:31:08
>	Bidder 5    US $2,900.00  Apr-23-07 19:31:00
>	Bidder 5    US $2,800.00  Apr-23-07 19:30:50
>	Bidder 5    US $2,700.00  Apr-23-07 19:30:42
>	Bidder 5    US $2,500.00  Apr-23-07 19:30:32
>	Bidder 5    US $2,200.00  Apr-23-07 19:30:25
>	Bidder 7    US $2,050.00  Apr-23-07 00:33:36 
>	Bidder 5    US $2,000.00  Apr-21-07 21:21:05
>	Bidder 3    US $1,250.50  Apr-21-07 17:19:52 
>	Bidder 4    US $1,111.00  Apr-21-07 17:38:42 
>	Bidder 2    US   $559.00  Apr-21-07 16:39:08 
>	Bidder 1    US   $365.00  Apr-20-07 21:33:10 
>	Bidder 2    US   $250.00  Apr-21-07 16:38:56 
>	

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