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Let's Do Lunch

paulgraham.com

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Re: Let's Do Lunch

#21

Post by ig1 »

DeusExMachina wrote: post #5
serverdude wrote: post #4

I plan to be there...And hope to win:) @callmeed, i can bid on ur behalf assuming it is a straightforward one time bid...i can contact you on email if you want..though there is a conflict of interest :) edit: edited some portion once i learned about silent auction

If you are bidding yourself, I think you cannot bid for someone else (morally speaking). Otherwise you can be sure to beat his bid by bidding just one dollar more.

Surely, he could do that anyway ? - it's a silent auction not a secret one, all bids are public.

Re: Let's Do Lunch

#22

Post by jl »

I checked with Bing and unfortunately there is no way for someone to bid unless you attend the auction. If you want to bid, you should designate someone else to attend for you and get a reservation/bidder number.

Re: Let's Do Lunch

#23

Post by jl »

ig1 wrote: post #14
hristov wrote: post #7

Paul can you ask the nursery school to try to take bids by phone? I will mail them a 20 dollar check. And if I win I will not make you go anywhere, I will fly out to Palo Alto. I am sure many others would appreciate this option.

According to this previous post on the topic (by one of the volunteers at the school) if you want to bid but can't be there in person then you can contact them: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1863923

Unfortunately, you can't bid unless you attend the event (or have someone attend in your place).

Re: Let's Do Lunch

#24

Post by frou_dh »

gaustin wrote: post #8
callmeed wrote: post #2

Can someone in the area be my proxy and bid for me?

I'm wondering this same thing for myself. I don't want to give the school a fixed number. I want a live body that can call me. I might go over my "limit" if it's within reason at the last minute...

This reactive limit thing bothers me when my family buys on eBay. Decide your ACTUAL limit up front if you already have all the relevant information :)

Re: Let's Do Lunch

#25

Post by jackowayed »

jl wrote: post #22

I checked with Bing and unfortunately there is no way for someone to bid unless you attend the auction. If you want to bid, you should designate someone else to attend for you and get a reservation/bidder number.

This is a good Offer HN opportunity. (I know, I know, that's so last week.)

You could tell people that they can email you with the max they'll pay, and you'll go and bid for whoever has the highest max. And I guess you should say that you'll definitely bid at least the second highest max you heard, so that we don't end up shorting Bing.

(eg. Someone gives you a max of $5k. Someone else gives you a max of $4k. But the highest bid from anyone at the auction is $2k. So you bid $2500 on behalf of the $5k person and win it for them. If the $4k person and the $5k person had gotten different proxies, Bing would have gotten >$4k, but because there was a sort of pre-auction, they only got $2500. By saying that you'll definitely bid as high as the second-highest emailer, you avoid that problem.)

Just make sure you vet the person pretty well so you know they'll actually pay.

I'd do this myself, but I'll be on a plane back from Rubyconf that evening.

Re: Let's Do Lunch

#27

Post by prawn »

jclemenson wrote: post #19
prawn wrote: post #18

Site idea: leaders in their field volunteer their time for lunch. People bid and also pay for said lunch. Winning bid goes to designated charity. Perhaps have one auction per day. Could be anything from someone like PG to head of marketing at a major sports team, to notable chefs, writers, etc.

yup just what i was talking about, see below

Could be something in it then.

If it was high profile enough, the restaurants might even cover the lunch in exchange for the plug on the site.

Re: Let's Do Lunch

#28

Post by ammmir »

not do downplay the charity aspect, it would be cheaper to spend some time building a great mvp and apply to yc to get more than lunch with pg and gang. but then there's the chance of not being selected ;)

Re: Let's Do Lunch

#29

Post by gaustin »

frou_dh wrote: post #24
gaustin wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm wondering this same thing for myself. I don't want to give the school a fixed number. I want a live body that can call me. I might go over my "limit" if it's within reason at the last minute...

This reactive limit thing bothers me when my family buys on eBay. Decide your ACTUAL limit up front if you already have all the relevant information :)

I don't have all of the relevant information. The obvious missing piece is how much other people value the item.

It seems kind of silly to be upset by being outbid when you are participating in an auction with public bids.

Re: Let's Do Lunch

#30

Post by gaustin »

serverdude wrote: post #13
gaustin wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm wondering this same thing for myself. I don't want to give the school a fixed number. I want a live body that can call me. I might go over my "limit" if it's within reason at the last minute...

I think it is a silent auction. So you go in and put your bid. So it is not going to be like what I believe you imagine. I am not sure whether 1. you know what others have bid(my guess is this would be the case to raise more money from charity's point of view) 2. you can bid again.

The way silent auctions (charity or otherwise) I've participated in usually do it is to have a list of bids near each item. You can circulate throughout the evening, changing your bid until bidding closes.
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