Title: Seller strategies on eBay: Does size matter?

Authors: Steven T. Anderson, Daniel Friedman, Garrett Milam, Nirvikar Singh

Addresses: Department of Economics, 421 Engineering 2 Building, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA. ' Department of Economics, 421 Engineering 2 Building, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA. ' Department of Economics, 421 Engineering 2 Building, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA. ' Department of Economics, 421 Engineering 2 Building, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA

Abstract: We examine seller tactics in 1177 eBay auctions. The largest volume sellers make rather homogeneous choices; smaller sellers are more heterogeneous. Some tactics, such as starting the auction with a |Buy it Now| offer, appear to increase revenue. Perhaps due to intense competition, however, the overall impact of most tactics appears to be quite small. The main exception is the use of a secret reserve price, which raises the winning bid conditional on a sale, but reduces the probability of a sale. This can be advantageous, depending on the seller|s risk aversion and impatience.

Keywords: internet auctions; posted prices; market institutions; electronic business; eBay; seller strategy; seller tactics; online auctions.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEB.2007.016476

International Journal of Electronic Business, 2007 Vol.5 No.6, pp.643 - 669

Published online: 30 Dec 2007 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article