Darple Auction Model Should Show Up in eBay Some Day

Phil, I think the eBay Bid Assistant pretty much gives that functionality. Here is something I wrote up about it: http://www.allbusiness.com/specialty-businesses/home-based-businesses/4113183-1.html ...

The eBay Bid Assistant attempts to address the functionality offered by Darple, but it only goes part way. In particular, the eBay Bid Assistant bids serially. As eBay describes it, ?? it will begin bidding one at a time on the items you chose, starting with the one that ends soonest.? (see http://pages.ebay.com/bidassistant/) Darple, in contrast, issues the bids in parallel, creating a real marketplace. The eBay Bid Assistant is an admission by eBay that the buyer experience on eBay has not been what buyers want. Just this month, PeSA, the Professional eBay Sellers Alliance, published an article detailing some of the problems eBay is facing and report that eBay has become a ?buyer beware? marketplace. (http://www.gopesa.org/news/index.cfm?page=ebayunheatlhymarketplace2007). Yes, the eBay Bid Assistant is an improvement, but it offers what third-party sniping agents have been offering for years and falls far short of what Darple offers. With Darple, buyers create reverse auctions, putting sellers into competition for the buyers? business, and getting the buyer the best deal. Simultaneously, a forward auction puts buyers in competition with each other, getting sellers the highest price. It levels the playing field between buyers and sellers and creates a true marketplace. The combination of a reverse auction and a forward auction enables Darple to create a double auction, like the mechanisms that a stock market uses to achieve fair pricing - buyers can see all asks, and sellers can see all bids. In addition to creating a more fair market, Darple tries to create a safer buying experience as well. Darple strives to ensure that a single user can only claim one user name so that unfair bidding practices are mitigated. Right now identity requires a student .edu e-mail, or a cell phone. Soon, newer and stronger authentication technologies will be put in place to broaden availability of Darple while continuing to ensure a safe place to do business. The combination of a more balanced, transparent pricing mechanism, along with stronger safety, results in a better buying experience. That's what buyers want ? and that's what sellers need to create a real marketplace.