I never understood how people could buy a used car over the internet. It just seems too risky. [/B][/QUOTE] I think people tend to buy used cars that are located close enough that they can go and take a look before bidding. There are also services that will inspect them for you.
True, true. If it wasn't such a good deal and I didn't have a friend (who lived near the car) that could go look the car over for me, I probably wouldn't have bought it. As it stands, its the best used car I've ever purchased. I guess I just got lucky.
"strong" stocks like blockbuster, KKR etc (there IS actually a whole market segment exist of "crap" stocks that clean out the shorts) To make money in this market all you have to do is - be the sheep, BUT be the "smart" sheep. It has taken me 20 years but I have finally got it - better react to what's happening than try to read tea leafs and crystal balls (or charts) to the the 'first'.... I rather sell what is low already and buy what is high today than pick the bottom or a top of any market....
I think people tend to buy used cars that are located close enough that they can go and take a look before bidding. There are also services that will inspect them for you. [/B][/QUOTE] I actually bought a used car over the net. Flew from Atlanta to New York to make the deal and then drove it back home. Not a bad excuse for a 3 day weekend vacation. Most ebay people are just normal Joes that aren't looking to scam anyone. That feedback thing is a powerful motivation to many... they'll do "anything" to make you happy.
Two questions: 1) Anyone know the history of E-bay? How did it start up? 2) Has Amazon had a black quarter yet?
1]Pierre Omidyar (an Iranian born American started it because his gf collected pez and wanted a way to buy/sell and connect to other pez aficionados). Its important to also point out that she is has a PhD and worked for McKinsey&Co (not an airhead collecting pez in otherwords). 2]Depends how you define 'black'. They don't use EBIT but rather EBEBTKS (earnings before everything but the kitchen sink).
in a nutshell... ebay (auctionweb) started - pierre put things up, and basically it was a "if you sell stuff, send me some money" site. like shareware, of sorts. NOT with pez dispensers, as the pr machine made up later on (one of many lies from ebay's pr machine). and meg took no pains to hide this - in fact, she's been shot on the cover of a newspaper in front of a bunch of a bunch of pez dispensers. there's a great book called _the perfect store_ which tells about it in a lot more detail. it started in 1995...fees came in 1996...pierre had probably the ultimate combination of business and internet community (giving something back, etc.) but it was corrupted as things prepared for IPO. ebay has NO care for what their customers 'want' unless: -> they receive bad press -> it makes them extra money. no different than any other business, to be sure, but their pr spin contains so many lies whenever they add a change, it's ridiculous. oh, people who were selling originally were promised IPO shares when the company went public. that's another thing ebay lied about...
"]Pierre Omidyar (an Iranian born American started it because his gf collected pez and wanted a way to buy/sell and connect to other pez aficionados). Its important to also point out that she is has a PhD and worked for McKinsey&Co (not an airhead collecting pez in otherwords)." I don't know the company as an insider but I used to work in silicon Valley and in SF during the "heydays". I KNOW ebay made lot's of insiders rich. It is many peoples FT "virtual" place of business to sell on ebay, so if they just vanished lot's of people would be scrambling like mad....
Ebay is one of my favorite websites. Just so much great shopping. We bought a used van on the internet from Enterprise Rentals. They even gave us a one way rental to go up and get it. And it came with a warranty. recommend it highly.