Prisoner's Dilemma on eBay

Considering the Prisoner’s Dilemma in this chapter, provide your own insight on how sites such as eBay “work” for most participants of this popular online auction site. Do they really work? Or is there too much risk?

I think sites such as eBay provide a fair ground for auctioning off items. I think auctions are one of the fairest ways to sell things since you set a base price & then have bidders bid on what they are willing to pay for an item. Instead of being forced to pay a price thats too high, you have the chance to get an item for a bargain. This allows competing bidders to compare and rely on each other to make the final bid. This also helps to weigh the value of an item based upon others who have a similar interest. If bidders are willing to bid really high on an item, it is going to gain value. If bidders aren't willing to bid high on an item, the item significantly loses value. This allows for a competition to emerge and play out throughout the selling process. 

Since there is a set time for selling the item, bidders are restricted to make bids within that time limitation. This limitation makes it fair because the bidder knows exactly how long their bid will last on eBay before they would win the item. I think the main risk that comes with these sites is that sometimes people bid assuming somebody will outbid them and then that doesn't happen. When you're locked into your bidding amount, you run a risk of actually having to pay when you are under the assumption you probably won't.