Thinking critically: Bidding on eBay

Question

Hiya,Please provide feedback on this paragraph. Thanks.Thinking critically: Bidding on eBayI had shopped at ebay a couple of times in the last five years, but I had never bid for anything. Yesterday, I lost and then won a bid on a book. I am excited about the book, and I am super excited about this new way to bargain shop for my books. The website has two different types of transactions: Buy it Now, and Bid price. Previosuly, I only bought items using 'buy it now' price, and never looked at bidding transactions. In my thoughts, I equated bidding with gambling, and gambling I believed was morally wrong. But, after I completed the bidding transactions yesterday, I realized the stupidity of that thought. I felt like a moron for thinking like that.On ebay, sellers can create a sale transaction as a bidding transaction with a minimum price they are willing to accept for the item, and a time period during which they will be accepting the bids. Simultaneously, sellers can list 'Buy it Now' price for the item. If a buyer feels that the item is worth the 'Buy it now' price, they have an option to buy it instantly. This is a perfect example of free market, and not gambling.

Free_spirit · Accepted Answer

engismy2ndlangHiya,Please provide feedback on this paragraph. Thanks.

Wow! There is nothing wrong with your composition skills. I only have a couple of suggestions:

Consider: "I have shopped at ebay a couple of times in the last five years, but I had never bid for anything."

Reason: Using have makes it more present tense for story telling, and that is what you are doing - relating a history of your experience.

Consider: "... transactions: 'Buy it Now', and 'Bid Price'."

Reason: Simply because you are grouping these words together, and you use the single quotation marks later on. Also, consider later on using the same capitalization: 'Buy it Now' or 'buy it now' - consistency is an important part of style.

Consider: "... sellers can list a 'Buy it Now' price for the item."

Reason: Adding the article 'a' makes it read a little smoother... without it, it doesn't read quite right to me.

Consider: "This is a perfect example of [a/the] free market, and not [of] gambling."

Reason: 1. adding an article, for the same reason as above. Alternatively you could have "... example of free market economics..." etc. The final clause, "and not gambling" is ok, you are saying it is an example of freemarket, not an example of gambling. However, it doesn't quite read right to me. I would probably put put the "of" in there to match the "of free market" or "of a/the free market".

Small points, and more a matter of style than errors in your grammar.

Engismy2ndlang · Answer

Thank you!

Since you brought up tenses, I have another question:

I still believe that gambling is wrong.

So, can the sentence "In my thoughts, I equated bidding with gambling, and gambling I believed was morally wrong." be written as, "In my thoughts, I equated bidding with gambling, and gambling I believe is morally wrong." in the composition.

BarbaraPA · Answer

You should use the proper capitalization of the company you are writing about. eBay

Free_spirit · Answer

engismy2ndlangSo, can the sentence "In my thoughts, I equated bidding with gambling, and gambling I believed was morally wrong." be written as, "In my thoughts, I equated bidding with gambling, and gambling I believe is morally wrong." in the composition.

Good point. Yes, if you still believe gambling is morally wrong, then you need to use that in the present tense. So yes, the new sentence you have written is correct, as it is a current belief that you hold.

It would be possible to write the entire paragraph in past tense, as a kind of reflection about what you believed and did at a period of time. It would be open to interpretation as to whether you still held those beliefs.

Thinking critically: Bidding on eBay

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