eBay Consumer Surplus Study

[mandy]

Buyers save billions of dollars each year bidding on eBay auctions, according to a new study that quantifies the benefits online consumers enjoy over and above what is derived by sellers, or eBay itself.

The independent research by two statisticians from the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business found buyers saved $7 billion that they might have otherwise been ready to pay in a study of eBay auction behavior in 2003.

Applying the same analysis to 2004 buyer data, consumers saved $8.4 billion, said Wolfgang Jank, one author of the study. A linear projection of the research findings would mean consumers saved around $19 billion during 2007, Jank said.

The study seeks to calculate what economists call "consumer surplus"--the difference between the top price buyers were ready to pay and what they actually ended up paying...

full article: http://www.news.com/Study-shows-eBay-buy...g=nefd.top

[accentnepal]

See what happens -
There are lies, d@mn lies, and statistics-->

When a buyer wants item A and would pay $100 but gets it for $20 then he still has $80 for the next item. If he gets that for $20, too, then he has $60 for the next. These guys are counting the same money over and over again.

Bet he gets a nice salary to spew this cr@p. And they call my stuff "Junk Science"!