Post #38638 by Humuhumu on Wed, Jun 11, 2003 6:14 PM

Personally, I don't have any problem with folks making money off of their eBay transactions, and whether or not the buyers, sellers, and other bidders are TC people doesn't matter to me.

I do agree that it would be a very nice thing to do, to be willing to sell an item to another TC member (or any other tikiphile, for that matter) at cost. That ohana feeling is part of what I really love about our community. But, I don't expect it.

I would not be offended if someone sold me an item for twice what they paid for it, even if they bought it from a TCer, and bid against a TCer in the process. Heck, it's all about what value different people see in an item, and we're all going to think items are worth different things to us.

If one person re-sells an item originally placed by a TCer, then why would it go for substantially more the second time around? Both people have had equal opportunity to advertise their auction to us, and neither has an unfair advantage.

If one TCer buys an item from a non-TCer, and then sells it to a TCer for double, that sounds like a fair finder's fee to me. It can be a bit of work sifting through eBay listings, or relentlessly hitting estate sales. That time = money, and sometimes I don't feel up to the hunt and I'm willing to pay a bit extra.

In addition, it's too difficult to tell if other folks here are bidding -- my eBay id is not "Humuhumu". You wouldn't know it was me. Are we going to set up a whole series of rules for announcing who has "dibs" to bid on an item, and how much that person is allowed to sell it for later, and so on and so on? Heck, there isn't that much concern for the possession of heirlooms in my family, I don't see why we need it here.

But! I can also easily see where other folks would see it differently. I like that we're a social community, and if we wanna go all hippie commune here, and agree on some rules of cooperation re: eBay, I'm more than willing to participate. I guess I'm a pinko commie deep down.