3 ms·
My identity as a seller is a business asset. If you don't trust my reputation, you are free to search for an item/service elsewhere from a seller you trust more
by anoncoward111 9y ago
My identity as a seller is a business asset. If you don't trust my reputation, you are free to search for an item/service elsewhere from a seller you trust more.
However, I am not able to trust you as a buyer on Ebay or Amazon. No matter what I do to cover my bases, there is a risk that Amazon and Ebay will reverse the transaction, and I will lose my money, time, and even my item.
Conversely, when you send me cash or a cash equivalent by mail, I am now 100% fulfilled, and any failure to deliver on my end should become public knowledge quite quickly. However, caveat emptor.
- emodendroket 9y agoI don't buy into the libertarian idea that your reputation is a sufficient substitute for proper regulation of commercial activities.
- robotrout 9y agoI'm sure you have used reputation a thousand times in your life to decide whether or not to dine in a restaurant, take a class from a professor, or stay in a hotel.
- tacomonstrous 9y agoIn my college experience, many courses that came highly recommended by the student population were garbage. Students don't have the experience to judge the worth of all courses, and the same information and knowledge asymmetry extends to many other fields of human activity.
- emodendroket 9y agoMostly highly rated classes tend to be blow-off classes, rather than informative and engaging ones.
- emodendroket 9y agoAll of those things are subject to substantial regulation, meaning that it's not that much of a risk to eat at a restaurant I've never heard of before. And even with those lower stakes, plenty of highly-rated restaurants I've been to turned out not to be so good.