eBay in the economic literature: analysis of an auction marketplace
Author
Hasker, K.
Sickles, R.
Date
2010Source Title
Review of Industrial Organization
Print ISSN
0889-938X
Electronic ISSN
1573-7160
Publisher
Springer New York LLC
Volume
37
Issue
1
Pages
3 - 42
Language
English
Type
ArticleItem Usage Stats
119
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1,222
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Abstract
This survey brings together theoretical and empirical questions that have been addressed in the economic literature on eBay, focusing on understanding the behavior of buyers and sellers. We discuss several puzzles of bidder behavior and the explanations that have been put forward by the literature for each. We then discuss structural estimates of bidder behavior and measuring the consumer surplus derived from eBay. We then try to understand why there are so many selling formats being used simultaneously, and then focus on the critical decision variables for a seller in an eBay English auction. Finally we analyze how trustworthy eBay sellers are on average, and whether the feedback system provides strong incentives for good behavior. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
Keywords
eBayeBay consumer surplus
English ascending auctions
Online auctions
Attitudinal survey
Commodity market
Consumption behavior
Public attitude
World Wide Web