Am I missing something in this auction?

Oh, holy YUM!

--
Kandice Seeber
Air & Earth Designs
http://www.lampwork.net
"vj" wrote in message
...
vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from Marisa Cappetta
:

]I can honestly say it's a delicious combination.

absolutely.
make hot chocolate - except with coffee instead of water.
then add a good bit of Irish Whiskey.
perfect for Sunday afternoon football game watching.


--
@vicki [SnuggleWench]
(Books) http://www.booksnbytes.com
newest creations: http://www.vickijean.com/new.html
yahooID: vjean95967
-----------
Need dope? Grow your own - plant a man!

Yes, I would be. But I would still be shocked and hurt that my auctions and
business activities were being spewed all over the internet like so much
tabloid news. People suspected the lampworker first, then the bidders. By
then, the damage had already been done.

--
Kandice Seeber
Air & Earth Designs
http://www.lampwork.net

But personally, I am thinking about this
beadmaker's feelings. I put myself in their shoes. If it were me being
discussed, I would be devastated.

If I were THIS LAMPWORKER

I'd wonder what was GOING ON with my auctions - despite getting $400....
for a
nice heart.

What if these people HAVE THEIR OWN AGENDA - and what they are trying to
do
RUINS the lampworker's reputation ?
Wouldn't you be CONCERNED if you were this lampworker?

I sure would be!

Cheryl
DRAGON BEADS
Flameworked beads and glass
http://www.dragonbeads.com/

But what if you're all wrong and there's nothing going on?

--
Kandice Seeber
Air & Earth Designs
http://www.lampwork.net

Cheryl wrote:
But personally, I am thinking about this beadmaker's feelings. I put
myself in their shoes. If it were me being discussed, I would be
devastated.

If I were THIS LAMPWORKER I'd wonder what was GOING ON with my auctions -
despite getting $400.... for a nice heart.

What if these people HAVE THEIR OWN AGENDA - and what they are trying to
do
RUINS the lampworker's reputation ?
Wouldn't you be CONCERNED if you were this lampworker?

I sure would be!

Okay, Call me a Grinch: I'm with Cheryl on this.

I'm not a lampworker, or even in business, but if I were aware of
something that was affecting the price of, or market for, my goods, I'd
want to do something about it, particularly if it were illegal or against
the rules, and having even an indirect effect on my own business.

Some of you are concerned about the lampworker's feelings. That's very
nice of you, but misplaced.

IF the artist in question IS engaged in shill bidding or price
manipulation, then it's pretty clear to me that she or he is not
especially worried about YOUR feelings, or the possible damage s/he is
doing to YOUR business by manipulating prices.

If this person is uninvolved (hard to believe that considering the length
of time this had been going on), then you are probably doing her a favor
by alerting her to the problem, since at the very least shilling will get
them kicked off of eBay, ruining their business and reputation. A few
bruised feelings would be nothing compared to the grief *that* would
cause.

It's like reporting child abuse: The mother will surely be mad at you for
doing so, and she will probably never speak to you again whether she's
innocent or not, but there's the possibility that you have just saved a
child's life.

Arondelle
--
================================================== =========
To email me, empty the pond with a net

I love international candies... it's amazing that people who have such
similar cultures have such different candies.

-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com
http://www.snipurl.com/kebay


Marisa Cappetta wrote:
Don't you guys have Freddo? Chocolate frogs. Giant Caramel Freddo.
Delectable.

Aright, if I didn't have to sheet-rock the shed today, I know what I'd
be doing!

Except with Kentucky bourbon instead of irish whiskey.

-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com
http://www.snipurl.com/kebay


vj wrote:

absolutely.
make hot chocolate - except with coffee instead of water.
then add a good bit of Irish Whiskey.
perfect for Sunday afternoon football game watching.

I know, Kalera - you're right about this. To be completely honest, I took
issue more with Cheryl's posts than yours, because there is a huge
difference in tone. Her posts were way more negative and accusatory than
yours. Cheryl - don't you realize that posting in all caps is considered
shouting? Maybe that's the difference, I don't know.

Again, let me point out that yes - I do know you, Kalera. I count you as my
friend and I appreciate your opinions. I just wanted people to look at
things from the point of view of the people being accused - even for just a
minute. You did this - some others did not.

I agree that there is something strange about the activity, but again, what
if you're wrong? If you're right - that's great - the people involved can
take a good, hard look at the activity and decide what to do. If you're
wrong and there's nothing untoward going on - then people's names have been
dragged through the mud. I'll bet that a lot of people have blocked certain
ebay id's from their auctions due to this. I'll bet some people have
decided not to bid on certain people's auctions because of this.

For me, it's not about superiority or power. It's about empathizing with
the people involved. I don't like being the dissenter (sp?). It makes me
feel like slinking off with my head down. I regretted posting what I did at
first because I felt like it would make people angry, and I don't like
making people angry. But something told me to keep defending this
lampworker because I feel like this type of thing just happens way to often
in our community. I'll be the first to admit that this situation is a
little bit different - there's a real possibilty of some sort of fraud. But
it didn't start that way. It started just like any other "what's the deal
with this unbelievable high-priced auction" post. And it happened here and
on WC at the same time. The beadmaker in question was hurt at first, but
had the integrity to come to WC and post their situation.

Anyway. I am not sure what else to say. I think I've said all I want to.
We can agree to disagree on this - that's totally okay with me.

--
Kandice Seeber
Air & Earth Designs
http://www.lampwork.net


The thing about these witchhunts is that they give everyone an opportunity
to feel superior; the finger-pointers and those who shake their fingers at
the finger-pointers.

I posted links to six auctions where two bidders drove up the price of a
pendant; where the winning bidder sold same said pendants, using buy it
now, at less than half the price to the next-lower bidder; and where the
same winning bidder sold the same pendants to the same next-lower bidder
*a second time*. I posted links to over a half-dozen auctions where the
same winning bidder sold the pendants to the same next-lower bidder in the
same way. If you think that's mere speculation, that's fine, but don't try
to tell me that I'm raising the question of fraud based on "just public
suspicion".

Furthermore, you know me; you know how I feel about those auctions where
people start getting snarky and saying that the beads "weren't THAT
special." I even started out defending this poor seller the same way. It
has nothing to do with "knowing" who the seller is, or with fame; I could
give a damn who the seller is, these bidders are behaving in a way that
CALLS for some finger-pointing. I'm sure the seller feels like crap, but
this public discussion is giving him a chance to cover his ass that he
wouldn't have had if someone had simply reported this to eBay; you know as
well as I that eBay would have yanked his account posthaste and asked
questions later, because that's how they work.

-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com
http://www.snipurl.com/kebay


Kandice Seeber wrote:
That's all fine, well and good. But personally, I am thinking about this
beadmaker's feelings. I put myself in their shoes. If it were me being
discussed, I would be devastated. If someone posted one of my auctions
and asked what made it so special, I would be hurt. (Because the
assumption would be that the beads are not worth the price, at least in
the poster's eyes.) Then, to add insult to injury, people here and in a
couple of other places, began to question both the seller's integrity and
the bidder's integrity.
These are people we are talking about - real people with real feelings.

That's all I meant - if there's funny business, why not just leave it up
to the people in charge? Because if there is *no* funny business,
people's good names are being dragged through the mud for no reason.
This can damage a person's business, and their ego as well.

It wasn't the original post asking for an explanation as to what made the
bead worth $400 that irked me so - it was the later implication that
fraud was going on when no one had any proof. Just public suspicion.

When Corina's $1000 auction happened, people were all over that with
comments about the beads being not so special.
It's happened with others as well. At least no one played the fraud
card. Probably because we knew the beadmaker in question.

People tend to forget (or don't care) that these artists are people, and
they can and do see these very public posts.

A little bit of decorum and tact is all I am asking for.

Kentucky appears to be our Scotland, in that respect; not a huge state,
but man they have a lot of distilleries! I was just wishing I could find
a list.

-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com
http://www.snipurl.com/kebay


Su/Cutworks wrote:

Single malt whisky produced on Islay, land of great Scottish whiskies.

http://www.laphroaig.com

Pronounced la-froyg, we call it Leapfrog in our house. Mike's not the
single malt drinker, I am. Scotland produces more names than you could
drink in a month. I know. One site claims there are over 2500 brands. One
night in Glasgow, some guys with incredible Scottish accents asked me 'D'ye
like whusky, lass?' When I stopped giggling I nodded eagerly, and we went
to a pub which had a LOT of them, all alphabetically arranged.

I think I lost the power of speech somewhere around Bunnahabhain. I've been
demanding a rematch ever since.

To see them all listed by name, visit this site and prepare yourself for a
LONG trip through the names alone.

http://www.royalmilewhiskies.com

-Su

Yes, I would be. But I would still be shocked and hurt that my auctions
and
business activities were being spewed all over the internet like so much
tabloid news. People suspected the lampworker first, then the bidders. By
then, the damage had already been done.

Orr posted again, in his own thread. Some excessively self-righteous
#(&*&$)@ has taken it upon herself to email his customers with claims of
fraud to scare them off. I just hope the bidders report HER to Ebay.

It's going to be 78 today. I'm going out to make beads instead. G

KarenK

Yeah, I saw that. Emailing his customers is considered auction
interference, and against ebay's policies.
Orr lost business because of this.

Again, if someone thinks something is suspicious (and they'd better have
real proof!), they should contact ebay and let them know. That way ebay can
investigate. Contacting someone's customers is just completely wrong.


--
Kandice Seeber
Air & Earth Designs
http://www.lampwork.net

Yes, I would be. But I would still be shocked and hurt that my auctions
and
business activities were being spewed all over the internet like so much
tabloid news. People suspected the lampworker first, then the bidders. By
then, the damage had already been done.

Orr posted again, in his own thread. Some excessively self-righteous
#(&*&$)@ has taken it upon herself to email his customers with claims of
fraud to scare them off. I just hope the bidders report HER to Ebay.

It's going to be 78 today. I'm going out to make beads instead. G

KarenK

Kandice Seeber wrote:
But what if you're all wrong and there's nothing going on?

Then the lampworker will be angry at you. You may apologize, but don't
expect her to be gracious. You'll both live. Everyone will have to
suck it up and move on.

Arondelle
--
================================================== =========
To email me, empty the pond with a net