auction
Sign in to savethumb|An American auctioneer using auction chant at a livestock auction, November 2010 An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition exist and are described in the section about different types. The branch of economic theory dealing with auction types and participants' behavior in auctions is called auction theory.
AI overview
An auction is a process where goods or services are offered for bids, and then sold to the highest bidder (or purchased from the lowest bidder in some cases). Auctions matter because they provide a systematic way to determine the market value of items and are studied by economists as an important mechanism for buying and selling.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
37 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- History
- Classical antiquity
- Modern revival
- Rise of the internet
- Economic significance
- Types
- Price development
- Driven by bidders only
- Partially driven by time
- Single shot
- Properties of auctioned goods
- Reserve price
- Structure of a bid
- Buyout option
- Winner selection
- Other features
- Contexts
- Human commodity auctions
- Real estate auctions
- Auctions by authorities
- Commodity auctions
- Online auctions
- Unique item auctions
- Other contexts
- Bidding strategy
- By the bidders
- By the auctioneer
- Chandelier or rafter bidding
- Collusion involving auctioneer
- Suggested opening bid (SOB)
- Terminology
- JEL classification
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Further reading
thumb|An American auctioneer using auction chant at a livestock auction, November 2010 An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition exist and are described in the section about different types. The branch of economic theory dealing with auction types and participants' behavior in auctions is called auction theory.
The open ascending price auction is arguably the most common form of auction and has been used throughout history. Participants bid openly against one another, with each subsequent bid being higher than the previous bid. An auctioneer may announce prices, while bidders submit bids vocally or electronically.