Sequential Internet auctions with different ending rules

Abstract

Two ending rules, a soft close and a hard close, exist in Internet auctions. In hard close auctions, each auction ends with a fixed deadline determined by a seller. In soft close auctions, the end time automatically extends if at least one bid is submitted in the last few minutes, so each buyer has an opportunity to reply to other buyers' bids. The reserve prices set by the seller in hard close auctions are higher than the reserve prices in soft close auctions. The result is consistent with data of DS Lite auctions in Yahoo! Japan.

Search and resale frictions in a two-sided online platform: A case of multi-use assets

“…Auctions, e.g. Houser and Wooders (2005) [U.S. data], Glover and Raviv (2012) [U.S. data], and Tsuchihashi (2012) [Japanese data]. Note that eBay, the dominant online auction platform in North America, was launched in Japan in 1999, but exited from Japan in 2002 due to the low number of users.…”

Do auction formats matter in eBay auctions?

“…Otherwise, the ending rules in online auctions also draw much attention. Roth and Ockenfels (2002), Ariely et al (2005), and Ockenfels and Roth (2006) are the pioneering in this topic, and then Tsuchihashi (2012) and Damiano et al (2012) follow the pioneer and go a step further in this issue.…”