[Sigia-l] Who knew: people are irrational

[Ziya Oz]

"In the 12 years since eBay's launch, the online auction house has
established itself as a one-stop shop for all things rare, kitschy, and
collectible. But recently, a small group of economists have mined the site
for a different prize: clues on how people spend their money."

<http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/2007-07-17-economists-study-ebay-
buyers_N.htm>

Interesting tidbits, including how people actually pay more than the "buy it
now" price due to calor licitantis, how bidders carelessly dissociate total
cost by opting for low price/high shipping cost, etc.

This 'irrationality' of homo sapiens is an interesting aspect of design:
hard to anticipate, difficult to test with small volumes and sometimes even
harder to accommodate.

----
Ziya

Design is the art of not inventing.