Ebay has been slowly moving away from being a real auction site. It has the benefit of any multi-national company of being half in and half out of the domestic market here. Since the management changed, did they overpay on borrowed money?, the drive has been to increase the take by increasing the number of deals and the % of each trade. I do not think eBay gives a flying fig about its old core client base and it has become a rather unpleasant place to do business. Ebay was not a genuine auction site when it started and I am not sure what title covers its current incarnation but it sounds more like your meeting in the pub after the ring has obtained the item than the original auction we hoped to attend.
I have never been very keen on auctions as they contain quite a few dodgy practices. The best bidder at most auctions I have been to is Mr Wall, though he has become more sophisticated as sometimes he is not at the auction but somewhere else on the other end of a 'phone. The advantage of a real auction is that you can see most of the opposition which often gives you clues if you are going to be a buyer. Yes the ring can be present but as you say this is policed. However there is still the auctioneer's mates and the missed bid. Worst case Bonham's, I think, at Beaulieu. I think I could have let a bomb off and not got my bid in on one lot. Even a small informal auction can cause grief, MOC last year with Jon Hunts bid nearly dishonoured by all accounts. No auctions are dodgy and eBay's especially so. I have virtually stopped using it, a bummer as I have stuff to clear but it is more effective use of time to bin the cheap stuff now. Did you notice Autojumble is coming back, only one reason.
What do the Peel Mafia/Tiger Mafia threaten to do. Leave an Isetta head on your pillow? Attack you and burst a few blackheads? Do they keep waterpistols in a glasses case? Do they threaten to hubcap you? Are there rumours of them extracting two stroke in a protection racket? I always wondered what was under that lid in the boot of a Tiger. It is a small roulette wheel. The moncoque is great for craps. No wonder the crowds gather round them when they turn up at an event. Three Peels in a row, which is the dollar under? Sorry wrong car, sir, it was fake one this time. Is it more threatening than the Modified Berkeley MFI!
