This paper analyzes seller characteristics and choices in approximately 1000 eBay auctions for a particular model of PDA. Seller characteristics include frequency of selling, reputation, and the qualities of the product sold. Seller choices include the length of the auction, information provided about the product, starting price, and whether to use a ‘Buy it Now’ option. We find that different ...

A new theory of coexistence of money and higher-return assets is set out. It applies to any setting in which some trade involves an exchange of goods for assets and occurs between two people–a buyer and a seller. We show that there exists a function mapping the portfolios of the buyer and the seller to the trade that occurs such that (i) the trade is in the buyer-seller core and (ii) some peopl...

In many negotiations, rules are soft in the sense that the seller and/or buyers may break them at some cost. When buyers have private values, we show that the cost of such opportunistic behavior (whether by the buyers or the seller) is borne entirely by the seller in equilibrium, in the form of lower revenues. Consequently, the seller is willing to pay an auctioneer to credibly commit to a mech...

We study a model of the seller of an asset who is liable for damages to buyers of the asset if, after the sale, the seller is discovered to have failed to disclose an estimate of the asset’s value that the seller knew prior to sale. The model yields some surprising predictions concerning how the seller’s disclosure decision changes with changes in the severity of this liability, and with other ...

We examine the market power of a seller who repeatedly offers upgraded versions of a product. In the case of pure monopoly, the seller also controls compatibility across versions. In the case of an entrant who offers an upgrade, the incumbent seller also controls subsequent interoperability across versions. We argue that control of compatibility and interoperability does not allow an incumbent ...

This article reviews experimental work on two party bargaining where a bargainer has information unavailable to the other party. The situation is one where the bargaining is on a single issue only and is distributive, (i.e., the negotiations are on the sharing or distribution of the common gains from trade). Two experimental situations are reviewed and several observations are drawn, including ...

Seller reputation is recognized as an essential determinant in online C2C marketplaces, but its influence on price premium remains unknown. The majority of existing studies indicate that seller reputation is positively correlated with sales price (price premium) on eBay US, but not on Taobao China. Conversely, the strong correlation between seller reputation and sales volume found on Taobao (vo...

This paper reports on a large scale field experiment testing strategies available to a seller participating in simultaneous competitive sequential, ascending price automobile auctions. Every other week, the seller offered approximately 120 vehicles for sale in an auction environment in which several competitive sellers offered on the order of 3,000 vehicles. The experiment tested various sequen...