Hi everyone - thought I would chime in since I've been accused of fraud.  Of course I don't think we are doing anything unusual, unethical or fraudulent.  In the end, though, your perceptions are the reality so I'll do my best to offer more information. 

Essentially, John's view (as I understand it) is this:  Purple Wave may, under its terms and conditions, choose to look deeper into a new bidder's financial wherewithal.  Therefore, any bids placed by that new bidder until Purple Wave takes a deeper look and decides "yes, new bidder is good for it" are not real auction bids, do not count, and some unsuspecting other bidder is getting artificially run up by the new bidder in the meantime.

Here's my answer:  Every bid placed on one of our auctions is binding on the bidder, regardless of whether we've obtained any additional  information from the bidder, such as a deposit, credit reference checks, or bank guaranty letter.  If you bid in our auctions and refuse to honor your bid, we or the seller take action to enforce the bid.  Just because we might ask a bidder for more information to confirm who they are or how much they can pay does not change the fact that the bidder is already obligated to honor their bid via our terms and conditions and the UCC.  So, all bids are real bids because they've been placed and they will be enforced if not honored by the bidder. Other bidders simply are not being defrauded or misled in any way.

Now, if we ask a new bidder for more information about themselves (which we do in our sole discretion), and the new bidder is non-responsive or flaky, we will take available measures to protect the seller and other bidders from the deadbeat new bidder if the auction has not concluded.  John asked if we have ever stricken a new bidder's bids because the new bidder was uncooperative when we asked more questions about them and their ability to pay . . . the answer is yes.  Regardless of how it happens, when a bidder signals us before an auction is over that they won't honor their bids, we respond in a way that is fair to other bidders and that corrects and punishes the new bidder accordingly.  When they tell us after the auction that they won't honor a winning bid, we and the seller respond accordingly. 

You might ask why we don't require more aggressive financial hoop-jumping before allowing someone to register or to place a bid.  The answer is that maybe we will someday, but we've been fortunate that virtually all of the people who register to bid and place bids on our site are legitimate, honest bidders who can and do pay.  There are thousands of bidders we haven't asked for more information because they've developed a solid history of bidding and paying over the years.  That said, we've also asked thousands of bidders for more information beyond simply what they provide when they register to bid.  Our current system is working well enough to walk the fine balance between making participation easy for bidders and getting the buy-sell transaction closed for the seller. 

So what about John's bids on today's auction?  First of all, none of John's bids were ever rejected by Purple Wave.  He wasn't trying to avoid the bids he'd already placed.  He and I spoke this morning before bidding concluded.  (BTW John, I appreciated the opportunity to speak with you for real rather than through this impersonal venue).  He confirmed, as I knew he would, that the bids he had already placed were bids he definitely would have honored had they been the high bid.   He's the kind of bidder we are blessed to have by the tens of thousands . . . the kind that means what they say when they promise, before they are allowed to place a bid on www.purplewave.com, that they are a real bidder who will pay, is able to pay, and actually pays.

Jerrod at Purple Wave

[email protected]

www.purplewave.com

My cell phone for anyone who wants to chat about this or anything else we do is 785.341.6071