Subject:
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Re: Proxy ratcheting: How do auction systems work?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.market.auction
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Date:
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Wed, 28 Apr 1999 15:58:53 GMT
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Viewed:
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832 times
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Todd Lehman wrote:
>
> In lugnet.market.auction, jdiri14897@email.msn.com (John DiRienzo) writes:
> > > [large bid jumps]
> >
> > OK. This is a psychological thing as well. Which can be harmful to the
> > seller's cause. If an auction has been running its course, and is on its
> > last day, with only one bid, other possible bidders may believe it is not
> > a good value, since seemingly no one wants to bid on it. Giving the buyer
> > this manipulative skill may be pleasant for the buyer who can weild it,
> > but if its allowed, and it hurts a seller, it may hurt the auction site,
> > too.
>
> I think what ultimately hurts an auction site (or any site, for that matter)
> is not giving people the features they want.
>
> How many IRL auctions have you -ever- heard of that -didn't- allow large bid
> jumps? The kind of jumps that cause the entire room to go silent -- all
> mouths agape -- or cause everyone to go "ohhhhhhhh..."?
>
> "Five thousand pounds."
> "Six thousand pounds."
> "Seventy-five hundred pounds."
> "Ten thousand pounds."
> "Twenty thousand!"
> "Twenty five thousand pounds!"
> "Fifty thousand!"
> "One million pounds!"
I must say that things like that are what make real life auctions
exciting. What's even more exciting is when the huge jump DOESN'T stop
the bidding...
> How long have IRL auctions been around to perfect and standardize the
> general methods? 50 years? 500 years? 5000 years?
>
> For how many millenia have arbitrary jumps been a natural part of auctions
> and of negotiating in general?
>
> Why do you assume that a large bid jump (to scare off other bidders) results
> in a lower final selling price than the price would have settled at under
> slow climbing? Maybe some scary bids are much higher than they need to be.
> (A good player will err on the safe side and bid ~20% higher than he thinks
> is absolutely necessary.)
While not as large an excess bid as the examples you mentioned, I just
participated in an auction where I was unclear on the rules of when it
would end, and thought I might miss out on an opportunity to make a
counterbid before the items went sold, so I made a large increment.
There were three identical items, and I got mine for that large bid, at
$110 when the other two went for $100.
My guess is that much more than half the time, a large bid increment
results in a higher final price. Either it jumps way ahead of the other
peoples maximum prices, or it just shakes out the non-serious bidders.
While some people do get carried away by bidding in small increments, I
doubt many people end up going too much over their original limit (which
ultimately would be the only possible detriment of allowing scare bids).
--
Frank Filz
-----------------------------
Work: mailto:ffilz@us.ibm.com
Home: mailto:ffilz@mindspring.com
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