So a few friends and I have been talking lately, and the subject of the list posted here has been a hot topic.

From my understanding, the list was created to be a resource for folks bidding on items on ebay and yahoo japan. The concept of RFSO comes in here, and this being a tight community, it was an unspoken rule that we would not bid against other folks from the board.

This does not happen anymore. Nobody checks the list it seems, or nobody cares.

I'm not singling anyone out here. I just know that this has been a topic of discussion for me and a couple of other people.

I hope you don't mind me posting this here Glenn, and if you feel it should be deleted please do so. i wouldn't want to put you in an odd spot.

I am not trying to stir shit up here...just figured putting out a general consensus might be a nice idea.

Hmm, I'm torn on this.

I like the idea of it, and I try to follow it, but on the other hand, you are right, people seem to ignore it anyway. I get outbid on most stuff unless it's buy it now or I am agressive and wake up in the middle of the night to fight over it.

I'd like to think there are enough honorable people on here to make it work though.

i check the list. i agree with the list. i dont think it improves my chances much but it makes me feel good.

I'm torn most of the time too...

i'm on it but i'm torn, to be honest its never helped me once :S though i always respect other peoples auctions, other people have bid on mine without saying anything

I say keep the list. I check it and and respect it.

And at least we know who to work with and who not to when the auction is over.

yeah keep it, cause when i was a newbie i went ahead and bid on something, and realized someone on here had bid too, so i told him my max bid, but it ended up neither of us won, and we worked together!

I check it too and have several times not bid on items others hit before me. I just got upset recently when when someone on the list nailed me (I'm looking forward to the day when I can return the "favor"). But just because some people break the rules doesn't mean it won't work for others. It worked for those who I decided not to bid against.

I guess if it works, you don't really know about it.

I really like the "idea" of the list.

I think if we all respect it we can keep prices down. Sure we aren't the only ones bidding, but I would never bid against a board member without contacting them first.

Thank you for posting this question. Maybe it will make people think about it again before blindly bidding against a board member without dropping them a line first.

the list = RFSO (in my opinion)!!

Living Dead has a good point of contacting other members first - some people bid on something because at present it seems like a good deal, whereas someone else may want it much more and be willing to spend twice as much on it. As long as there is a communication open between users, nobody gets jacked and other compensations can be worked out. Communication is the key!

well i'm glad people are responding to this.

i'd like to think everyone can abide by the list if such a thing exists to help others.
and a mistake once in a while is fine, we all make them.

it's such a great idea in theory. plus personally i think it contributes to our good toy karma if we follow it.

I always check the list. It's kept me from bidding against list members many times. Keep it.

ive never really understood the list. is it for knowing who to contact to let them know you want the same thing and to figure out who wants it more? or if youre on the list, an auction you bid on first becomes off limits? im really just curious, i hardly ever buy anything on auction, so im not even on the list.

i'm positive that the list has helped me and I thank those that have not bid against me.

I am therefore embarassed to say that I may have violated the list recently and not checked for a more recent boardmember. For this I am sorry! I sent a pm to apologize as well!

I do send pms to boardmembers on certain auctions and I have received pms on auctions as well. and in most cases, something was worked out.

thanks for the reminder to check the updated list.

i think its a little bit of both depending on the situation and the people. it would be great if everyone on the list would take the hands off approach to anothers auction. not extremely realistic though. contacting someone on the list to compare wants is better than nothing i think. i know i would appreciate a heads up and if i can keep from bidding up someone auction unnecessarily i will.

i think having an auction be hands off because someone else saw it first seems silly. isnt the point of an auction to make the item fair game for everyone? it sounds good in theory, but when some super rare thing shows up that everyone wants, it seems to all go out the window.

IMO the list has benefits because it gives you the option to contact someone and not needlessy raise the price on auctions.

As for hands off, I agree, it shouldn't mark it as such...but I think maybe if u did spot it early on and place a bid, it should be cool to bid later if u r outbid, without enduring the wrath of the toygods.

So far it has only worked one way for me in that I haven't bid against people, and have either contacted them or stepped aside - and I haven't ended up winning, or participating in, a damn Jp vinyl ebay auction in ages....but the toy karma has been priceless

Now with the hidden bidder one, bidder two, thing with eBay it's a bit harder to know if you are outbidding an RFSO brother. There's been an auction I've been watching and a very prominent board member has been high bidder on it. I didnt touch it because I know it's as important to him as it would be me. Now I see he's been outbid and I just dont know by who. So I will now go after the piece at any cost and just hope bidder two wasn't a naughty non list watching RFSO who I end up beating out for the piece.

1) Destroy the list.

2) Everyone change their handles.

3) BID IT NOW. THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE.

4) ???

5) Profit!

take the list off! i just had an auction and toybotstudios bought it... I just know it would have been higher! next time i will shill bid toybotstudios!

For those of you that want the list to stay you better stand up to what it means!!!
Most of the people follow RFSO but there are a few people on the board who obviously don't give a shit and come here spouting RFSO this and RFSO that and then go and bid on an auction that someone here is already bidding on. So you better stand up to your words, because your actions are already noted!!!

Wow Roger - that's is almost a boarderline Kozik quote!

As for the list? I really don't think everyone here abides by it - some say they do but when it is all said and done - it is ignored and people feel better about themselves when they can apologize after the fact - REPEATEDLY!! Never done me any good as far as I know. I know if I see another members name on the bidder list I usually stay away - mostly cause I know I will be outbid by said person and then you start the whole "You bid my auction up and cost me more money" blah blah blah! Keep it for what it's worth. Like I said - at least you know who you screwed over and who you can apologize to later.

Oh well, I can see certain board members don't give a fuck about the list

Funny, how less than a day after I discover this thread another RFSO dude outbids me without any contact. LAME...

If anyone was thinking about bidding on the 2 YJA auctions I'm on right now, they might want to shoot me a quick PM. I'm going all out on these 2...

mmm, I've also been outbid by people on here twice recently. And as I haven't bid on anything on ebay in ages, it was a 100% hit rate!

BUT, for those who want to remove the list, what good will it do? It wouldn't make much difference to me, unless u also changed your id - I recognise a lot of peoples ids, and I won't bid against somone knowingly unless they've screwed me before - and even then. We are obviously talking about removing teh "rules" surrounding teh list.

Like I said above: IMO the list has benefits because it gives you the option to contact someone and not needlessy raise the price on auctions.

Its an option, thats it. Follow the rules if u want, if u don't, don't expect people to not outbid u. We all know the culprits and can act accordingly (if we want). Also, when people say it hasn't helped them, can u be sure? Like Dr T says, he hasn't bid on peoples auctions when he sees their name - and that person had no idea that someone just helped them out. I've done the same, so maybe things are working more than we think?

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PS. But Rhino riases a good point that acutions go lower when people don't bid - I know for certain that the auction he mentions would have gone higher, because I didn't bid on it as I saw TBS handle on there - and I really wanted that black Desura. So fundamentally we are colluding to fix peoples auctions...mmmmm.

To be fair your name only went on the list yesterday. Nobody checks it daily or right before each bid they place.