Using the internet to buy things

Closed-bag exchange

from wikipedia.org

Hofstadter^[10] once suggested that people often find problems such as the Prisoners Dilemma problem easier to understand when it is illustrated in the form of a simple game, or trade-off. One of several examples he used was "closed bag exchange":

Two people meet and exchange closed bags, with the understanding that one of them contains money, and the other contains a purchase. Either player can choose to honour the deal by putting into his bag what he agreed, or he can defect by handing over an empty bag.

In this game, defection is always the best course, implying that rational agents will never play, and that "closed bag exchange" will be a missing market due to adverse selection. However, in this case both players cooperating and both players defecting actually give the same result, so chances of mutual cooperation, even in repeated games, are few.

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I've ben engaged in a week-long search for a Korg MS-20 Analog Synth. Let me tell you first off that finding one of these things second hand in playable condition and for a reasonable price is next to impossible.

Now I want to tell you about the one I did find.

It was about as good as you could get, second hand from someone who bought it in Japan, lightly used the photos on craigslist were mint and the guy selling the thing seemed like a reasonable and honest person. I had been looking on e-bay and another site which specialises in used modular gear and the going price is close to $1700.00 USD not counting postage and duties and international shipping costs. uggh.

After rigorusly scouring google I came across one for $1300 US. A guy on craigslist in St. Paul Minnesota was selling his and it looked better than the ones I'd seen on e-bay and it wasn't going to have to be shipped from Asia w00t says I as I wrote him to inquire.

He gave me the run down and offered to knock $50.00 off the price and include six or seven patch cords for the patch bay part of the machine. I was excited, I've been wanting an analog synth for years and my birthday is coming up, if there's anything I'd want it's one of these things. I got in touch with my mom because I figured I could get her to pay for it as a birthday present. then the e-mails got interesting, see there was no way that I could verify the guys claims that the synth was in the condition it appeared to be in and there was no way that I could convince him that a post dated check would clear by the time I had the keyboard. And here is the birth of the prisoners dilemma I've been playing for the past couple of days.

There was the possibillity that he, like myself was on the up and up, he: just a dude selling some gear to make student loan payments and myself: an interested potential buyer with a twist, St. Paul is way to far away for me to do the transaction in person.

My mom justifiably didn't want to be out 1300.00 incase the thing never materialised or arived broken or something, and the seller didn't want to be stuck with sending a valuable instrument overseas on a fake check. ten e-mails later we had settled on a post-dated money order which would validate after I recieved the keyboard (with fedex probably about 24 hours later). another e-mail was sent and I went to dinner thinking that the prisoners dilemma was overcome and that we would both be better off for it... if only life were that simple.

I got home from dinner to find a new e-mail from the man this time insisting on cash upfront or a non post-dated check or money order before he would mail out the gear. The prisoners dilemma had struck again. I called up my mom and after some discussion I looked up the section of craigslist which tells you how to avoid scams and much to my surprise and amazement this transaction had all the appearance of a scam but not on his part.

from the craigslist website:

Recognizing scams

Most scams involve one or more of the following:

• inquiry from someone far away, often in another country
• Western Union, Money Gram, cashier's check, money order, shipping, escrow service, or a "guarantee"
• inability or refusal to meet face-to-face before consumating transaction

more in detail here

I have a bleak moment of clarity while reading the sites admonitions where I realise that to anyone in his position it would appear as though I were trying to pull a con on the guy. Shit I think, fucking hell. The only honest thing I can do is write to the guy explaining that I'm not going to persue buying from him because not only is there no guarantee on either side that we'll both cooperate but that by all appearances to the cautious and concientious user of craigslist I have made of myself the impression of being a con-artist. Since I'm not a swindler and I also don't want to get burned and since the dynamic of trying to buy this thing was a clasic prisoners dilemma I had no alternative but to bow out. He had told me in an earlier e-mail that he knew someone else who was interested and so I told him that if that guy was in his area and could buy the thing in person that he should sell it to him and I sugested that he give this other possible byer the same deal he had agreed on with me (because it was a good deal but not so good as to be a "steal"). Anyway this has left me frustrated because I'm back at square one and feeling like my dreams of monophonic madness with keyboards are for the forseeable future going to have to remain dreams.

I had to apend the pertinent section of the wikipedia article on game theory and the prisoners dilemma, I also sent it to the guy in Minnesota. I couldn't believe just how close it seemed to the classic dilemma to read the whole article (it's interesting if you like stuff like this) you should go here