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eBay's proxy bidding: A license to shill

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  • Engelberg, Joseph
  • Williams, Jared

Abstract

We introduce a bidding strategy which allows the seller to extract the full surplus of the high bidder in eBay auctions. We call this a "Discover-and-Stop" bidding strategy and estimate that 1.39 percent of all bids in eBay auctions are placed by sellers (or accomplices) who execute this strategy. We argue that this kind of shill bidding is unnecessarily effective due to eBay's proxy system and the predictability of other bidders' bids. We also model eBay auctions with shill bidding and find that, in equilibrium, eBay's profits are higher with shilling than without it. Finally, to determine whether bidders have an incentive to bid on their own items, we mimic the bidding behavior of shill bidders in actual eBay auctions and find some evidence of the strategy's success.

Suggested Citation

  • Engelberg, Joseph & Williams, Jared, 2009. "eBay's proxy bidding: A license to shill," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 509-526, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:72:y:2009:i:1:p:509-526
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Liu, Kang Ernest & Shiu, Ji-Liang & Sun, Chia-Hung, 2013. "How different are consumers in Internet auction markets? Evidence from Japan and Taiwan," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 1-12.
    2. Bose, Subir & Daripa, Arup, 2017. "Shills and snipes," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 507-516.
    3. Ali Hortaçsu & Eric R. Nielsen, 2010. "Commentary--Do Bids Equal Values on eBay?," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(6), pages 994-997, 11-12.
    4. Shiu, Ji-Liang & Sun, Chia-Hung D., 2014. "Modeling and estimating returns to seller reputation with unobserved heterogeneity in online auctions," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 59-67.
    5. Yan Chen & Peter Cramton & John A. List & Axel Ockenfels, 2021. "Market Design, Human Behavior, and Management," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(9), pages 5317-5348, September.
    6. Herzog, Dominic, 2014. "Shill Bidder's Behavior in a Second-Price Online Auction," Working papers 2014/03, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    7. Kevin Hasker & Robin Sickles, 2010. "eBay in the Economic Literature: Analysis of an Auction Marketplace," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 37(1), pages 3-42, August.
    8. Nikitkov, Alexey & Bay, Darlene, 2015. "Shill bidding: Empirical evidence of its effectiveness and likelihood of detection in online auction systems," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 42-54.
    9. Ingebretsen Carlson, Jim & Wu, Tingting, 2018. "Shill Bidding and Information in Sequential Auctions: A Laboratory Study," Working Papers 2018:18, Lund University, Department of Economics.

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