Thanks, guys, for this excellent discussion. I am currently working on a lengthy posting, on another topic, but when I have some time, I will definitely share some thoughts about these Informal Auctions.

I have also drafted a model "Procedure" that a seller could adopt, to conduct an Informal Auction. Of course, any seller could also use my model as a starting point, then make changes to adopt whatever procedures he might prefer.

I continue to believe that Informal Auctions are useful, in the right circumstances . . . more later!!

Jeff

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: I thought i would take the opportunity to create a new thread where
: people could place their own thoughts on the concept of the
: informal auctions that have been recently discussed.

: Here are my own thoughts :

: - i believe the forum administrators ( Jeff &/or Mark ) should
: approve / give permission to those watches chosen to be worthy
: of this special treatment ( this prevents the more common models
: from being offered up )

: - once approved a clearly defined set of terms should cover the
: auuction, these should include -
: ( minimum bid , length of auction , if applicable a buy it now
: price that stops the auction, it should also have the obvious
: extra relative information such as payment requirements and
: delivery terms/costs )

: With these details in place a fair auction SHOULD be possible.
: There is room for an unethical seller to "ghost" shill
: bids and all potential bidders should be aware of this when
: placing their own offer values. It can take a lot of strength of
: charactor to stick to your own limits when participating in an
: auction, hopefully our forum members are upto the task.

: As i stated, these are my own thoughts on the topic, it would be
: good for others to chip in with their ideas too.

: - Darren