This Ebay assignment stood out to me as one of the most unique assignments ever given by one of my high school teachers. At first I was skeptical on if I would be able to do this, because I have never brought anything off of ebay. I had the feeling that this assignment would be confusing for me but I knew I had to get it done. I began to think about what I was going to buy and if I actually wanted to buy something vaulable or just something that would help me get the assignment done and over with. Right up until the day the assignment was due, I still didn't have a clue on what I wanted to buy. This assignment really forced people to think wisely on what to spend their money on and some things that they just wanted or actually needed in their life.
Finally I decided on what I wanted to buy...an OBAMA PIN! I saw this as something that stood as a part of history so that made my decision final. I begin to search for a button that I haven't yet saw, and I decided on one that featured barack, michele, and their two daughters. The bidding started around $2.50 and it had around 3 hours left until it ended. I didn't think anyone was going to bid on this before time was up (I was right). Even though I thought this, I still took the opportunity to select the option of having a notification sent to my email when another person bid on the item or if someone outbid me. This served as a strategy for me. After placing my bid, I left the ebay window open on the computer and checked frequently on my item. Before I knew it, I ended up winning the auction! Yay! The total cost of my item came to 7 dollars (which included) tax. Tax can be a real killer, the item went from 2.50 to 7 dollars. This seems to be an example of inflation because the price is going up but the amount of goods isn’t. My first ever ebay experience and I won. This is probably what encourages people to continue using ebay to buy things, maybe even me. When getting ready to purchase the item on my mom’s credit card, I wasn’t sure if it was safe! I read the Ebay policy and at the end I purchased the item anyway. It was final. That first purchase allowed me to experience something new, even though I have purchased items off of the internet before, It still felt like a different experience (maybe its just the hype). After buying the Obama pin, I continued to browse around Ebay to see if I could get a good deal on any other things I might be interested in. Being that there is only one thing being sold per auction (scarcity) it makes people focus on that one item because they know If they lose the bid, than they cannot receive the item. This is why some people use Jbid...which can be seen as a dark method. This gives people a better chance at winning an auction because right before it ends... “BAM!”(Andy’s words) a bid is placed for you and most likely the item Is yours.
This entire process helped me to think about capitalism. Ebay is a big market which serves as an example of capitalism. Selling, buying, competing. The seller sits back while buyers compete for an item, and at the end of the auction the buyer and the winner are the only ones who profits. This shows a big part of how the American way of life is based on technology. The new generation of how things can be sold and bought serves as a easy way for americans to consume things they want. Americans being some of the the laziest people around, just sit back, place bids and wait for a win. That's the beauty of Online shopping. It also shows the competitive streak that many Americans have. Massiel, a student in my American way of life class, said that she even went as far as contacting the seller after she was outbid, and offering him/her a deal in which she would pay more for the item than the person who won. Even though this is clearly going against Ebay policy, she still decided to do it...this shows her greed for the item. This is a trait that many other Americans possess
