IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbb/reswpp/200801-25.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Some evidence on late bidding in eBay auctions

Author

Listed:
  • Ladislav Wintr

    (National Bank of Belgium, Research Department)

Abstract

Bidding in the last seconds or minutes of an auction is a common strategy in Internet auctions with fixed end-times. This paper examines the three explanations of late bidding in eBay auctions that survived the first scrutiny in Roth and Ockenfels (2002). There is no indication that late bidding could lead to collusive gains for bidders. Late bidding is a strategic response to the presence of bidders placing multiple bids. Experts protecting their private information are typically the last to bid while collectors are often the first. As bidders gain familiarity with eBay rules, they tend to bid slightly earlier

Suggested Citation

  • Ladislav Wintr, 2008. "Some evidence on late bidding in eBay auctions," Working Paper Research 126, National Bank of Belgium.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbb:reswpp:200801-25
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nbb.be/doc/ts/publications/wp/wp126en.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Patrick Bajari & Ali Hortaçsu, 2004. "Economic Insights from Internet Auctions," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(2), pages 457-486, June.
    2. Ockenfels, Axel & Roth, Alvin E., 2006. "Late and multiple bidding in second price Internet auctions: Theory and evidence concerning different rules for ending an auction," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 297-320, May.
    3. Dan Ariely & Axel Ockenfels & Alvin E. Roth, 2005. "An Experimental Analysis of Ending Rules in Internet Auctions," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(4), pages 890-907, Winter.
    4. William Vickrey, 1961. "Counterspeculation, Auctions, And Competitive Sealed Tenders," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 16(1), pages 8-37, March.
    5. Rasmusen Eric Bennett, 2006. "Strategic Implications of Uncertainty over One's Own Private Value in Auctions," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 6(1), pages 1-24, November.
    6. Alvin E. Roth & Axel Ockenfels, 2002. "Last-Minute Bidding and the Rules for Ending Second-Price Auctions: Evidence from eBay and Amazon Auctions on the Internet," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(4), pages 1093-1103, September.
    7. Bajari, Patrick & Hortacsu, Ali, 2003. "The Winner's Curse, Reserve Prices, and Endogenous Entry: Empirical Insights from eBay Auctions," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 34(2), pages 329-355, Summer.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    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. Nicola Dimitri, 2007. "Last minute bidding equilibrium in second price internet auctions," Department of Economic Policy, Finance and Development (DEPFID) University of Siena 001, Department of Economic Policy, Finance and Development (DEPFID), University of Siena.
    4. Genti Kostandini & Elton Mykerezi & Eftila Tanellari & Nour Dib, 2011. "Does Buyer Experience Pay Off? Evidence from eBay," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 39(3), pages 253-265, November.
    5. Barbaro, Salvatore & Bracht, Bernd, 2021. "Shilling, Squeezing, Sniping. A further explanation for late bidding in online second-price auctions," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    6. 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.
    7. Sascha Füllbrunn, 2011. "Collusion Or Sniping In Simultaneous Ascending Auctions — A Prisoner'S Dilemma," International Game Theory Review (IGTR), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 13(01), pages 75-82.
    8. 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.
    9. Ben Rhouma, Tarek & Zaccour, Georges, 2012. "An empirical investigation of late bidding in online auctions," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 117(3), pages 715-717.
    10. Jannett Highfill & Kevin O’Brien, 2009. "The Effect of Alternative e-Prices on eBay Book Auctions," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 37(4), pages 383-395, December.
    11. Stylianos Despotakis & Isa Hafalir & R. Ravi & Amin Sayedi, 2017. "Expertise in Online Markets," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(11), pages 3895-3910, November.
    12. Chia-Hung D. Sun & Yi-Bin Chiu & Ming-Fei Hsu, 2016. "The Determinants Of Price In Online Auctions: More Evidence From Quantile Regression," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(3), pages 268-286, April.
    13. Axel Ockenfels & David Reiley & Abdolkarim Sadrieh, 2006. "Online Auctions," NBER Working Papers 12785, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. R Malaga & D Porter & K Ord & B Montano, 2010. "A new end-of-auction model for curbing sniping," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 61(8), pages 1265-1272, August.
    15. Nicola Dimitri, 2022. "Last minute only bidding is implausible in eBay sealed bid type-of-auctions," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 225-239, June.
    16. Sascha Füllbrunn, 2007. "Collusion or Sniping in simultaneous ascending Auctions," FEMM Working Papers 07025, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management.
    17. Sascha Füllbrunn, 2009. "A comparison of Candle Auctions and Hard Close Auctions with Common Values," FEMM Working Papers 09019, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Glover, Brent & Raviv, Yaron, 2012. "Revenue non-equivalence between auctions with soft and hard closing mechanisms: New evidence from Yahoo!," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 129-136.
    2. Ian Ayres & Mahzarin Banaji & Christine Jolls, 2015. "Race effects on eBay," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 46(4), pages 891-917, October.
    3. Cotton, Christopher, 2009. "Multiple bidding in auctions as bidders become confident of their private valuations," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 104(3), pages 148-150, September.
    4. Axel Ockenfels & David Reiley & Abdolkarim Sadrieh, 2006. "Online Auctions," NBER Working Papers 12785, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Sascha Füllbrunn, 2009. "A comparison of Candle Auctions and Hard Close Auctions with Common Values," FEMM Working Papers 09019, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management.
    6. Barbaro, Salvatore & Bracht, Bernd, 2021. "Shilling, Squeezing, Sniping. A further explanation for late bidding in online second-price auctions," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    7. Grebe, Tim & Ivanova-Stenzel, Radosveta & Kröger, Sabine, 2021. "How do sellers benefit from Buy-It-Now prices in eBay auctions?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 189-205.
    8. Bolton, Gary E. & Ockenfels, Axel, 2014. "Does laboratory trading mirror behavior in real world markets? Fair bargaining and competitive bidding on eBay," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 143-154.
    9. Gary Bolton & Ben Greiner & Axel Ockenfels, 2013. "Engineering Trust: Reciprocity in the Production of Reputation Information," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(2), pages 265-285, January.
    10. Nicola Dimitri, 2007. "Last minute bidding equilibrium in second price internet auctions," Department of Economic Policy, Finance and Development (DEPFID) University of Siena 001, Department of Economic Policy, Finance and Development (DEPFID), University of Siena.
    11. Anna Adachi, 2016. "Competition in a Dynamic Auction Market: Identification, Structural Estimation, and Market Efficiency," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(4), pages 621-655, December.
    12. Nicola Dimitri, 2022. "Last minute only bidding is implausible in eBay sealed bid type-of-auctions," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 225-239, June.
    13. Kenneth Hendricks & Ilke Onur & Thomas Wiseman, 2012. "Last-Minute Bidding in Sequential Auctions with Unobserved, Stochastic Entry," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 40(1), pages 1-19, February.
    14. Jeffrey C. Ely & Tanjim Hossain, 2009. "Sniping and Squatting in Auction Markets," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(2), pages 68-94, August.
    15. Ivanova-Stenzel, Radosveta & Grebe, Tim & Kröger, Sabine, 2019. "How do sellers benefit from Buy-It-Now prices in eBay auctions?," VfS Annual Conference 2019 (Leipzig): 30 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall - Democracy and Market Economy 203606, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    16. 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.
    17. Robert Zeithammer & Christopher Adams, 2010. "The Sealed-Bid Abstraction in Online Auctions," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(6), pages 964-987, 11-12.
    18. Axel Ockenfels, 2002. "New Institutional Structures on the Internet: The Economic Design of Online Auctions," Papers on Strategic Interaction 2002-08, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Strategic Interaction Group.
    19. Christopher Cotton, 2009. "Sniping to Avoid the Endowment E ect in Auctions," Working Papers 2010-13, University of Miami, Department of Economics.
    20. Sascha Füllbrunn, 2007. "Collusion or Sniping in simultaneous ascending Auctions," FEMM Working Papers 07025, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Online Auctions; Internet; Late Bidding; eBay;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nbb:reswpp:200801-25. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/bnbgvbe.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.