[meteorite-list] eBay impact (pun intended)

From: Matson, Robert <ROBERT.D.MATSON_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:21:04 2004
Message-ID: <AF564D2B9D91D411B9FE00508BF1C86901B4EB7A_at_US-Torrance.mail.saic.com>

Hi All,

EBay: love it or hate it, it has made an irreversible impact on our
little hobby. I think one could convincingly argue that without it,
there would be several additional metric tons of meteorites still
"hiding" in the deserts of Northwest Africa. (And some might argue
that that would be a GOOD thing.) But then, I doubt many of us
would currently have CR2s, R-chondrites, and large specimens of
unequilibrated H-, L- and LL-chondrites in our collections!

So there's no doubt that eBay has directly benefited collectors,
but there are pluses and minuses for sellers. As Mike Farmer
pointed out, eBay has greatly expanded his customer base, and at
least in his case it sounds like the increased sales have offset
the precipitous drop in prices. Others may not have been as
fortunate, so I can understand their frustration (or in some
cases outright hatred). Ironically, eBay was a bit like a
Near-Earth asteroid strike: it forced an evolutionary change
on the meteorite market, and sellers have had to scramble to
adapt and fill new niches, or face extinction.

Cheers,
Rob
Received on Mon 14 Jul 2003 01:22:49 PM PDT