Prisoner's Dilemma

First, we have to define the term before I reflect on it. Prisoner's dilemma deals with the "seller to consumer" relationship. First, there is a transaction where both the seller and customer are "ethical" in which they both respect each others' part in the transaction. Second, the seller takes advantage of the customer. Third, it's the exact opposite where the buyer takes advantage of the seller. Fourth, they both take advantage of the situation. When discussing auction sites like "eBay," this "prisoner dilemma" is very present through every transaction. Close to the beginning of the semester I shared a story dealing with eBay where the second part of a prisoner's dilemma took place. I thought I would share it again because it directly relates to the material. I am a huge basketball fan, especially a Knicks fan. Over the years it has been very hard to support them. What do you do when they are consecutively horrible? You look back on the glory years to make yourself feel better. So, I wanted to purchase an Allan Houston jersey to take myself down memory lane. I found the perfect size, and perfect jersey. The title clearly said, Medium, not specifying if it was an adult size or children size. When not specified, I think we all assume it is adult. As a frequent online buyer, if it is a kid's size, people go out of the way to specify this particular characteristic. I receive the jersey in the mail about three weeks later, and the jersey is as big as my right leg.   

There are two possible risks I see as being major in the online auction process. First, you go through the same experience I did, and not receive your money's worth. Second, identity theft when providing credit card information. However, "PayPal" is a great way to protect your information which gets rid of the second risk. I do believe they work because I have many friends who have had great experiences with eBay. I believe we need to be careful and conscious of the risks before getting involved so we avoid mistakes like the one I made.