In a message dated 3/25/04 10:48:11 AM, R. Salmon writes:

<< Yes it is. But must I remind you that we live in a capitalist country -
one that actually encourages and rewards bald faced capitalism!
. . . (a bunch of stuff) . . .  But
you can't complain about someone who followed the rules.  >>

Thanks for the lesson in Econ 101 but I already passed that course . . .
about thirty years ago.  However, your low opinion of my recollection has nothing
to do with what I said.

Your thought that "It (Ebay) is no different from a physical flea market"
doesn't wash.  Unlike Ebay, at a flea market the buyer can hold the seller's
dreck in his hands and fully examine it.  The buyer can look the seller in the eye
and, hopefully, get a read on how far the seller is willing to stretch the
truth or be worked down in his price.

But, above all, must I remind you that Ebay is an auction!  And like any
auction, the auctioneer takes his rake from the action, not a stall rental fee.
If there is a dispute in any auction except an Ebay auction, the auctioneer is
the who resolves the problem.  On Ebay, if a deal is queered for some reason,
Mr. Ebay says "Tough shit, work it out yourself."  He does this all while
foisting up some Pollyanna idea that Ebay is a community.

Please don't compare Henry Ford to Mr. Ebay.  Mr. Ford earned his well
deserved rewards by, as he stated, seeing how much he could give his customers for a
dollar not how uninvolved he could remain in the process.

George