Put up a sale item on Craigslist.org the other day. Some observations are noteworthy.
1. Responses came in within minutes the ad was posted. They came in fast and furious, slowing down to trickles only after the work hours. The response torrent was reminiscent to me of the foot steps in Yimou Zhang's movies of huge armies battling, dense and chaotic. Now the questions. Do people work in full concentration anymore? Does multitasking/partial concentration just cancel out the margin of productivity potential supposedly gained from e-revolution?
2. Price was inevitably among the first two questions asked in inquiry. The brand, quality, or condition of the item for sale was seldom asked about. Is that why low-priced box stores like Wal-Mart so popular? And why high-volume junk foods rule the day?
3. The inquirers felt lost when told to name a price. They inevitably offered a price next to nothing. In contrast, if given an asking price, they tended to play along and make a counter offer, lower but more or less within the ballpark of the asking price. Is this the moral here: you let others take charge and you will be abused, but you take charge and be a leader and others will follow?
Sunday, February 15, 2009
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