Talk:Auction

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Contents 1 Auction and auction theory 2 Minumum price and reserve auction and ebay 3 UK TV competition 4 "Cheap auctions" 5 Commercials 6 100 Million Dollars

[edit] Auction and auction theory

These is some tension in this article between the purely economic concept of an auction, and the idea of an auction as thought of by famous auction houses, and things like that. That article should serve as an introduction to the general phenomenon of auctions.

The second article can house the material on how auctions are formally classified (first price, second price, Vickrey, and so on,) strategies for auctions, collusion, bid shading, reserve prices, secondary markets, and all sorts of other technical material. All this is important, but there's no need for it to be cluttering the main article, as most people looking for information on auctions won't won't that level of detail. Isomorphic 04:45, 6 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Regarding auctions and auction theory, it may be inaccurate for this article to claim that "in economic theory, an auction is a method for determining the value of a commodity..." Only a small class of truth-revealing auctions (such as the second price "Vickrey" auction) will give bidders an incentive to bid their true values. The purpose of an auction is not to determine values but to allocate resources efficiently (to the highest valued participants). UA6 07:16, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Minumum price and reserve auction and ebay

The ebay site has some definitions that distinguish between a minimum price auction and a reserve auction, which this article does not do. I suggest the author review this article for possible clarification of defintions of auction types. 24.238.146.129 00:05, 1 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] UK TV competition

I want to include something but I don't know if this article is the place, or how to do so without falling into speculation or primary research. The UK television station Hits runs a competition where viewers send a premium-rate SMS with a bid (in pennies) for a high-priced consumer item (usually stereo equipment, though last week they had a car). The lowest unique bidder wins - the person who bids the lowest amount of money that nobody else has bid. It seems to me that in practice this only works for the company where there are likely to be a large number of bidders, and from their perspective it's much like a lottery - they make their money from the SMS, rather than the winner bidder who will typically only end up paying a couple of pounds.

But from the bidders' perspective there are some interesting game theoretical issues about bidding. Probably lots of people will try bidding just a few pence, so if you bid too low you're unlikely to be a unique bidder. But bid too high and there's likely to be a lower unique bidder. The optimum bid depends on the value of the prize, the number of other bidders, and crucially, an aseessment of the state of knowledge of the other bidders. You might assess, based on the number of bidders and the value of the prize, that 350p is the optimum level to bid at. But if you think that other people have done the same analysis, then you have to change your bid, because they'll be bidding at the same level and you won't be a unique bidder. And if you think that everyone else has done the same analysis, they might all decide that a very low bid is useless, and so you might win with a bid of a penny. Unless they've thought of that as well... --ALargeElk | Talk 17:07, 2 Aug 2004 (UTC)

That is indeed an interesting game. The equilibrium will involve each player randomizing over a bunch of numbers. If I had more time, it'd be interesting to work out the actual distribution. However, I would say that despite the use of the word "bid," this isn't an auction. An auction is a kind of market in which the players are trying to find an efficient allocation by expressing information about their value. In your game, a player's value for the prize don't enter into his strategy at all. Isomorphic 00:55, 3 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Values must enter the player's strategies, since no agent would bid above their value. Also, lotteries themselves may be considered "all-pay" auctions. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.48.134.223 (talk) 07:41, 22 December 2006 (UTC).

[edit] "Cheap auctions"

Is there any truth to those so-called free/cheap auctions that are held by government/other agencies? One sees such things in spam and eBay auctions very often, and usually there is a kernel of truth attached to them. 204.60.171.230 11:40, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I'm not sure exactly what you're referring to, but I think there's at least a kernel of truth there. The government does auction off, for example, confiscated property. Sometimes few people know about them and actually show up to bid, so the prices can be cheap. Isomorphic 19:54, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)

If that is the case, where can one find these 'cheap' auctions? (Same person as original poster) 01:47, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I really wouldn't know. Try the reference desk. Isomorphic 02:58, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Commercials

I find it inappropriate for individuals and/or businesses to place commercial references to themeselves within a definition.

[edit] 100 Million Dollars

by the proposed 100 Million Dollars Wiki(pedia) should creadte an auction platform --83.171.183.131 16:52, 14 November 2006 (UTC) Chrisglub (Germany)