"there is no auctioneer as such in the online situation" - Then just what is Ebay?

"As such", Pete. eBay is a "venue", a software application, an E-Commerce web site. Something new, something never before seen. eBay fulfills some of the functions and roles of a traditional auctioneer, and specifically avoids others. The National Auctioneers Association maintains that eBay is not an "auctioneer". The State of California does not consider eBay to be an auctioneer. The state of North Carolina took the position that individual sellers were the auctioneers, not eBay, then did an about face and concluded that neither were. They recognized that new enterprises are cropping up because of the Internet and technology in general, and sometimes you have to recognize that the old stereotypes no longer apply.

"Thousands of legitimate bid retractions occur daily on eBay" - Does Ebay release this figure or are you just guessing?

That was a direct quote from an eBay Customer Support employee email, (who was probably guessing), the first time I asked if it was OK for me to retract a bid because the seller had accumulated multiple negative fedbacks for non-delivery of product, between the time I placed my bid and the time I checked back and noticed their feedback number had dropped from 10 to 6. I figure that Customer Support person is in a better position to make an estimate than you or I. Givemn tjhe millions opf auctons that close on eBay every week, it seemed like a reasonable statement to me.

"I tend to look at both sides of a situation before reaching a conclusion, can you say the same?" - Perhaps thats part of your problem, you think there are only two sides to a situation.

I didn't realize I had a problem. That statement was made in direct response to Jim laying out a "you're a seller and they're buyers" scenario. I said I was
BOTH a buyer and a seller. What other "sides" should I have taken into consideration?