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1) Thanks for the edit; the more you know! 2) I think I've flash-learned a lot about the process now (of which I knew little before). I'm really interested in
by alexleavitt 15y ago
1) Thanks for the edit; the more you know!
2) I think I've flash-learned a lot about the process now (of which I knew little before). I'm really interested in disruptive uses of digital social systems, so taking advantage of online vendors might be something I'll actually look into for a future research project.
3) Random thought: Given the increase in algorithms that weigh prices against other sellers (and the obvious examples I linked to in the piece) I wonder what the potential is for mom-and-pop businesses to employ their own algorithms... or at least what the conflicts are when you have small businesses with different levels of technical skills and access to those sorts of advantages. Is that a new business competency that's necessary if you're a small business looking to work within these systems?
- patio11 15y agoYou might be more interested in an ethnography of eBay sellers / etc than the algorithmic question. They're typically lower-middle or working class Americans, often severely underemployed (SAHMs are common), who make margins which are actually negative if you impute any cost to their time. They're even more sensitive to losing $3.12 on shipping than PhD students. This feels to me that this is probably news to you, which is why I'm making it explicit. Given this background, talking about their algorithms sounds silly: they're not sophisticated Internet businesses with Stanford CS majors optimizing for ROi, they're closer to flea market merchants and their accounting controls would have gotten them dismissed for incompetence by any bank in Renaissance Italy.
- tomjen3 15y agoFor those of you not up on your acronyms: SAHM -- stay at home moms.