"Recently a chip on eBay came up for auction that was allegedly rare. Because I needed the chip for my collection, I inquired before bidding how many the person had. He told me only the one. My final bid was $1400 plus. After my check cleared and the chip was on its way, an identical chip was listed by the same seller. Then a 3rd and a 4th... Needless to say the price was down to $400 by the last chip.

You don’t find that wrong?"

What I find wrong Glen is that you were dealing with a LIAR and a dumb seller. Suppose the seller didn't have four of them ... but four other people each had one of the same chip and offered them for sale over a longer period of time? The numbers of chips available are the same.

What I'm saying is that if I hypothetically came across three or four A.C. chips that were worth several hundred dollars each, I probably would not put them on ebay, and chances are they would still be worth several hundred dollars each after I sold them.

Instead, I would put a fixed price on them and offer them to some of my subscribers whom I know would be willing to pay the price, thereby protecting the value of the chip and my customer's investment ... something your ebay seller did not do.

"You really believe you have no obligation to disclose the truth and what you know, as reported by a respected and reliable source to be incorrect?"

I still maintain that it is none of anybody's business how many chips I purchased, from whom, how much I paid and how much I sold them for. What makes you think that you are entitled to that proprietory information? I may have purchased my chips from multiple sources.

Each time you make a chip purchase Glen, do you ask the seller how many chips he/she has? If so, I wouldn't outright lie to you and claim this is the only one if I had more. I may say "a few" ... or I may say "it's none of your business", depending upon who was asking the question.