The Meaning of Auctions and How They Work

876 Words2 Pages

1. Introduction
The meaning of auctions and how they work
We can say that auction is a market mechanism by which purchaser make tenders and traders (dealers) place offers. The competitive and dynamic nature are the main characteristics of auctions by which the final price is reached, also auctions are an applicable method of commerce and trading for generations; transact with services and products for which traditional marketing channels are inefficient.
The Internet, nowadays, supplies an infrastructure for doing auctions at lower price with many more dealers and purchasers.

2. Dynamic pricing and Types of auctions
Auction has a major characteristics which it’s based on the dynamic pricing. “Dynamic pricing” refers to a purchase operation (transaction) where the price or the cost is not fixed.
On the other side, prices in supermarkets, department stores, and the other storefronts are fixed because they are catalog prices. Different types of auctions are available, each one of them has its own procedures and motives. Based on how many purchasers and traders are involved, it is customary to assort dynamic pricing into four main categories, and each of them can be done off-line or online.
Types of auction:
A) One Buyer, One Seller
Each side can use bartering, bargaining, or negotiation. The final price will be determined by the power of bargaining, demand and supply in the item’s market, and maybe business-environment factors.
B) One Seller, Many Buyers
Forward auctions are used here by the dealer (the price increases with time in these auctions). Another example of this type is Sealed-bid auctions. In a first-price sealed-bid auction, the product is granted to the highest bidder while in “Vickrey auction” (a second-price sealed-b...

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...and arrangements for payment and shipping are included in these activities.
Easy! Auction (saveeasy.com) is a typical post-auction tool.
Summary
We have introduced the meaning of auctions and how they work, and explained the relationship between dynamic pricing concept and types of auctions. In addition to the benefits of online auctions, we talked also about the auction process and software development.
To conclude, one of the main issues in e-commerce in these days is how to integrate the Internet into offline businesses, so a company that can offer and provide its services both offline and online can add value to the customer’s experience.

References
1- Introduction to electronic commerce (3rd Edition) [Efraim Turban, David King, Judy Lang].
2- Korper, Steffano and Juanita Ellis: The E-commerce book: Building the E-Empire. San Diego, CA; Academic Press, 2000.

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