Summary
For most people, the thrill of eBay is not in the item procurement, but in the bidding process itself, Canadian researchers recently found.
Original source:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/risks-of-the-bidding-game/2005/08/08/1123353259264.html?oneclick=true
Details
You could be suffering from "bidding frenzy" - a condition affecting eBay devotees all over the world.
The online auction site, where almost anything can be bought or sold, is one of the internet age's great success stories, with some 157 million registered users in 33 countries.
Researchers in Canada say eBay addicts display similar reactions to those of drug addicts and problem gamblers, but for eBay junkies the "hit" is the rush of winning the bid.
High states of arousal mean logic is abandoned and people engage in intense b i d d i n g wars, with i t e m s often reaching prices far beyond their value.
A painting by an unknown artist worth about $40 recently sold online for nearly $30,000.
Lee Murray, an anime specialist from Fitzroy in Melbourne, admits she's obsessed with eBay, and logs on every day searching for bargains.
I have my eBay windows open on my computer at work all the time, so I'm shopping all day," she says.
Lee Murray logs onto eBay every day in search of bargains.
Murray, 29, has made some big purchases on eBay, including a mobile phone, a sewing machine and video camera.
"I'm an impulse buyer, and that's why eBay is bad for me, because I instantly want it.
There are 55 million items available on eBay worldwide, with 50,000 categories ranging from cars to cloth nappies.
"I was buying picture frames and paintings for my flat, just because they were there.
"My son and my partner buy and sell car parts on eBay, and my daughter and I like looking for collectables.
More than 2000 Australians have cashed in on this revelation and are making a full-time living selling on eBay.
About the author: Mike Adams is an award-winning journalist and holistic nutritionist with a mission to teach personal and planetary health to the public He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guides, and books on topics like health and the environment, and he has published numerous courses on preparedness and survival, including financial preparedness, emergency food supplies, urban survival and tactical self-defense. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In 2010, Adams co-founded NaturalNews.com, a natural health video sharing site that has now grown in popularity. He's also a veteran of the software technology industry, having founded a personalized mass email software product used to deliver email newsletters to subscribers. Adams is currently the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit, and pursues hobbies such as martial arts, Capoeira, nature macrophotography and organic gardening. He's also author of numerous health books published by Truth Publishing and is the creator of several consumer-oriented grassroots campaigns, including the Spam. Don't Buy It! campaign, and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. He also created the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the ending of corporate control over medicines, genes and seeds.
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Friday, August 19, 2005
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