Auctions on the Internet: What's Being Auctioned, and How?

Posted: 20 Nov 2000

See all articles by David Reiley

David Reiley

Pandora Media, Inc.; UC Berkeley School of Information

Abstract

This paper is an economist's guide to auctions on the Internet. It traces the development of online auctions since 1993, and presents data from a comprehensive study of 142 different Internet auction sites. The results describe the transaction volumes, the types of auction mechanisms used, the types of goods auctioned, and the business models employed at the various sites. These new electronic-commerce institutions raise interesting questions for the economic theory of auctions, such as predicting the types of goods to be sold at auction, examining the incentive effects of varying auctioneer fee structures, and identifying the optimal auction formats for online sellers.

Suggested Citation

Reiley, David H., Auctions on the Internet: What's Being Auctioned, and How?. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=241996

David H. Reiley (Contact Author)

Pandora Media, Inc. ( email )

2101 WEBSTER ST 16TH FLOOR
Oakland, CA 94612
United States

UC Berkeley School of Information ( email )

102 South Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-4600
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
977
PlumX Metrics