Dan Rutter applies the lesson of George Akerlof's used-car classic " The Market for Lemons " to the endless mountains of crap on eBay. He explains why certain products there, such as memory cards and power supplies, are doomed to be in poor nick: because most consumers don't know and can't tell the difference between a good one and a bad one. "An awful lot of markets these days have a very strong lemon scent," Rutter writes. "There's almost always someone willing to sell garbage, and there's often also the critical "quality uncertainty" among buyers." So on eBay, where it's impossible to verify the quality of a product, sloppy counterfeits and damaged stock inexorably drive out quality merchandise. One specific: most 500W power supplies sold there can only handle a 200W load. Lemon-fresh power supplies [Dan's Data] ...
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Dan Rutter applies the lesson of George Akerlof's used-car classic " The Market for Lemons " to the endless mountains of crap on eBay. He explains why certain products there, such as memory cards and power supplies, are doomed to be in poor nick: because most consumers don't know and can't tell the difference between a good one and a bad one. "An awful lot of markets these days have a very strong lemon scent," Rutter writes. "There's almost always someone willing to sell garbage, and there's often also the critical "quality uncertainty" among buyers." So on eBay, where it's impossible to verify the quality of a product, sloppy counterfeits and damaged stock inexorably drive out quality merchandise. One specific: most 500W power supplies sold there can only handle a 200W load. Lemon-fresh power supplies [Dan's Data] ...