Wow! I missed a lot in two days... I see both sides here.
If Mel was truly outing a poster because it was out of his price range then that is a bit reckless even if it passes the $1000 invisible-bar. However, if we really think about it (and I can see that this may have been the reason for the post), what are the chances that the bond poster in question or future bond posters are not already known by the folks who are going to bid from the forum; especially at the $1000 level? If you are willing to spend $1000+ on a bond, most likely you have your saved searches telling you everyday that this one or others are up. If you are a Bond guy, willing to spend 1K and you haven't figured out saved searches then your pretty much an idiot, or new. Just admit it; every forum member who would bid, already knew about this one. And if your just bidding on a whim after finding out, then that just provides a good reason to restrict certain threads to "members only". Is this possible Holiday?
In regards to the Mad Max, didn't Bruce post it in his thread? Plus if you are a buyer of Bruce's then you have made a want list and if you are going to drop $500 on a Mad Max then you most likely have this title on your want list. If you don't, again you're either an idiot, rich, or new. If fact I would say that Mel's post may have actually lowered the ending price. Once I saw Mel's post I didn't even bother to watch it to the end.
I can see others acting the same way on the Bond. "Its already at $1,000 after 3 days? I'm out" Even though their bid may be near $2,000, they realized that the "Fat-Wallets" are already aware of it and they bail... They may check back to only confirm there assumptions.
With all this said, I once outed a group of daybill auctions from the same seller including a few bond daybills. I even presumed I was ruining a good deal for someone and posed the question of breaking the poster "bro-code". But being the newbie, the first thing I was told was that the post should have been in this thread. Chris even comforted me indicating the seller would appreciate the publicity and then toyed with me asking why I would even have an Aussie want list. It was all in good fun... I was not hacked to death.
Am I breaking the poster Bro-Code by notifying people of these type of deals? I already have one of these; its is a super nice poster and its only $18 right now... He is also selling other nice posters; there is a Bond and others all pretty cheap...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320719760204&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
http://www.allposterforum.com/index.php/topic,2579.msg39480.html#msg39480Isn't some of the in-fighting over the past few days just a bit, what's the word Chris used, "derisory". Come on guys... I know it sucks that an auction you were going to bid on gets outed, but did you really think you were going to get it for $1500 with all the vultures that are out there? Yes, I know the "you don't know for sure" argument and you would be right. But the stars would have to align and elephants fly to really get a steal on something as high profile as the Bond.
However, with my experiences on the forum to-date, I think that there should be a certain courtesy before outing an auction:
1. PM anyone first who you think would want the posters (Mel, T, Ted, and Matias have done this for me; Thanks!)
2. Instead of outing a particular auction maybe post "I have seen a killer Bond auction on the Ebay; PM me if you don't know about it."
3. Be the second guy to out it so you can always have plausible deniability.
Else, just start collecting Stargate. Nobody outs that title....