On Fri, 19 Mar 1999 23:00:50 EST, PCACala@xxxxxxx jammed all night, and by
sunrise was overheard remarking:
> I probably need to put a definition on my use of "market value." To me it
> means the average price paid for an item, in the same condition, over time,
> when the sales history shows stable or randomly fluctuating prices, or, the
> extrapolated value by regression for an item which in appreciating or
> depreciating in value over time.
But paid where? The average price paid for a bowl of rice in nearby
Woodstown might have meaning to me, but the average paid worldwide is
useless, unless I actually participate, personally, in the global market
(as a buyer, not simply a statistic). Ok, sure, I might like to know that
it's cheaper in China, but I'm not likely to shop there.
If I only know about e-bay, my concept of market price is based solely on
the e-bay averages. Were someone to post an "average market prices" list
in a place I know about on the net, then sure, I would be better
informed. But when that happens, me, the individual, has now started
actively participating in a larger market. Information has flowed.
Without that information, the markets are isolated from one another.
Since this can be highly individualized on the net, your knowledge of a
pricing structure in a larger market has no direct effect on my
knowledge, unless I get a "you paid too much, you fool" email from you
after an an auction. Perfect knowlege among all participants would, of
course, make a larger difference, but it's not likely to happen.
> By that definition, the Internet venue HAS established market values.
If there was such a thing as "the Internet venue". But there isn't, there
are potentially thousands of different venues all reached via the
internet, each potentially a separate market. It's much as in the meat
world -- the price of Zuiko's in Russia doesn't have much of an impact on
me, because I have direct association with that market. It may have an
indirect effect: if there are fabulous bargains there, someone may well
become an importer and, thus, establish a port within the market I
currently work within.
On the net, it's a similar thing. The barriers to market entry are not
political boundaries, but simply information: if I don't know that "The
Olympus Guy" exists, than none of prices affect my decisions to buy or
not to buy on e-bay or any other venue within my personal virtual
marketplace.
Simply put, free flow of information is necessary to link multiple
markets into the same venue. You get this, in the meat world, by way of
advertising, and to an extent on the net as well. But when was the last
time you got ads for used Olympus equiment in your in-box? It become the
buyers responsibilty, far more than in traditional markets (though it's
always, ultimately, your money, thus your responsibility), to forge this
intervenue links. Otherwise, it's like claiming that New York City, LA,
and CowTip, AK, are the same venue. Seems to me there are a ton of people
buying things at the local mall without the slightest inclination to go
to NYC and pay 50 0.000000e+00ss (or whatever).
Same principles on the net. It's fairly clear that perfect knowledge of
market pricing is difficult if not impossible for any single individual
to manage effectively -- there's just too much information out there. For
computer equipment, there are search engines for this (though even these
are not all inclusive, you get different answers with different engines).
That works toward making "the internet" a single venue.
--
Dave Haynie | V.P. Technology, Met@box AG | http://www.metabox.de
Be Dev #2024 | NB851 Powered! | Amiga 2000, 3000, 4000, PIOS One
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