Bid Collusion, Group Buys, etc

[OPCOM]

opcorn:

 

[LanceRobson]

I'm learning every day. We really need to think about everyting we put in writing, Whether here or another site. I was very naive and comfortable when I came here and started to feel I was just among friends. You be surprised how many things come up on a search on the internet that lead to this site or another that might be taken out of context. The world can see almost everything you type on the internet.

littlebob

I agree. One challenge I feel we need to keep in our brain cells is that email is unpredictable, permanent and uncontrollable. There is no nuance or body language to guide us and darn little contextual framework. There is no "off the record" email.

Right up until my retirement from the Army, I refused to have any"official" communications by informal email. It is a poor means of communicaton. We type things as if we were having a normal conversation with the "give and take" of private conversation, but we are creating an immortal record.

Everything we post here has the same limitations. As tough as it is, I try to think like each thing I post will be read in an informational vacuum and that it needs to be a "stand alone" bit of communication.

The issue here is not, at it's heart, collusion. To be actionable, collusion has to have a mechanism that prevents or discourages or supresses competitive bidding. Asking for a number of folks to get together to buy an item or a batch of items is not collusion. Nor is not bidding on something a buddy is bidding on. That is no different than not bidding on something your buddy is bidding on while you are standing next to each other at a spot bid auction.

The issue at hand is, and always has been, that this is not a democratic forum. I have no problem with that. There is no such thing here as a presumption of "free speach". Free speach doctrine refers to the government restricting political speach in a public place. That's not the case here.

This is a pritavtely owned site. If you want to solicit assistance or coordination to buy a particular lot, post a thread something like "Help needed to buy air-o-matic steering kits" and include a request to contact you off site.

Perception is fact. The owners and moderators of this site do not want the appearance and perception of collusion to get in the way of the core purpose of the site, regardless of our motives.

There are a number of things we all aggreed to when we first joined this site. discussing current GL items in detail was on of them.

Lance