Did you ever notice that bidders are like sheep?

Or cows who follow the one with the lead bell?

One person bids, everyone jumps on in.

It’s an easy theory to prove. Just go to eBay (link) and search for something, anything... There will be two identical items. Conditions are similar, starting price relative. And one will have 3 bids, the other none. Sometimes the one without bids will have better photos, a more detailed description, the seller may even have double the feedback.

How come the other item gets all the bids?

Because people are sheep.

Person A bids. Person B figures guy A knows ‘this is the good one,’ and decides to bid too. Person C figures that if A & B are in, he’d better be too.

Any other item becomes tainted as it has no bids, the conclusion is that the lack of bids are proof it is inferior.

In truth, person A didn’t see the other ones, never even looked. Person A found it on a lark, perhaps it’s an ‘add on’ purchase to get cheaper combined shipping. Who knows why person A bid, but all the rest follow as sheep.

Similar things happen at live auctions. No one is looking while the auctioneer sing-songs the virtues of the box of vintage magazines. One paper person bids, and suddenly everyone thinks this guy knows there’s something good in there, and they have to bid too.

Sometimes the auctioneer drops from $50, to $25, to $10, to $5, and at $1 someone like myself, who figures for a buck it’s worth the trip to claim it, puts their paddle up. Next thing you know, the darn thing sells at $150. I usually laugh, I dropped out at $5, but the rest of them spur each other on, and someone arrives home with a box of stuff they never wanted in the first place.

(Now, they must feel sheepish!)

Then the have to list it on eBay, and hope they get an early bid - so the sheep will come.