Who'd have thought you could get a grant to study ebay? but In 2004 the Economic and Social Research Council dished out £127,454.10 for a project called "Virtually Second-hand: Internet Auction Sites as Spaces of Knowledge Performance" which is now complete. I know this doesn't sound very promising, but part of the 'output' was an article in the BVWS journal which I certainly found rather interesting. It's available on the ESRC web site at
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with more reports on the project page at
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(don't be put off by the log in, just type in the user name and password provided). Though it is based on a study of vintage radio and stamp collectors, there are some fascinating insights into behaviors I'm sure we will all recognise in our own circle!