I was looking at the “musical equipment for sale” section in the New York Craigslist site, and I noticed a posting where a musician is selling a whole pile of gear for different prices. At the end of his listing, he put the following note:

all prices are compatible with average EBAY winning bids.

Ebay, it seems, has become the voice of the marketplace — the way to definitely determine what something is worth. Indeed, I’ve frequently used it that way myself. I often buy musical equipment from Craiglist, because it’s less hassle than Ebay (everyone’s local, so you just wander over to their apartment to check out what they’ve got). But before I buy something, I want to know if the price is fair, so I check out what the product is selling for used on Ebay.