Online Auction Sites Where the Bid Lowers the Auction Price

Auction Bids To Zero3.To administration costs of the online auction sites and
How about online auction sites where the item getstheir profit
cheaper with every bid that comes in. How interestingAll the costs are taken care of...by the participants
is that? This particular auction house category ispurchase of 'bid credits'. So the emphasis....as I alluded
titled....'Bid to Zero'.to earlier...is towards the competive nature of the
Imagine if you were bidding on a car or any top brandparticipants. Social competive interaction
product....and your bid....did get to zero! Forget it....it won'tonline....expressed in a style of auction
happen. Someone will zap it up before that possibility!entertainment....WOW! Whenever I was biding at an
With these auctions....the item starts off at the normal(offline) auction....I never saw it as entertainment....except
sale price....and then goes down with each bid.So if itwhen the Guy chasing flies...had an item knocked
reaches a price that someone is happy to pay....that'sdown to him. That gave everyone else a laugh!
it....sold. Really....won...would be more accurate.Internet technology has made this form of social
Reverse Auctionscompetiveness possible. Not the same as the 'survivor
To continue the same scenario as above, while anseries' on TV....but maybe more rewarding.
item price is being bid down....there could be twentyNew International Internet Auction Site
people biding. Out of those 20 bidders....5 bidders mayA United States company is the latest developer of
be looking at paying....say....$500 for the item. All fiveone of these online auction sites. In building this new
bidders claim the bid at $500. In this case the onlinesystem they have gone with quality top brand
auction sites use a special formula to decide the bidproducts to offer. It would be fair to say they have
winner.picked the eyes out of the best methods...currently
Another auction bid type is the unique reverse auction.used in similar European auction sites. Eventually they
As the name suggests the above scenario does notwill have as many as eight auction houses...all with
happen.The bid has to be 'unique'. To add to that....therevarious auction styles.
are two variations.They are making the auctions available on an
1. Highest unique bid....unmatched at the close of theinternational basis. Something the other auction sites
auction....wins the biding.With these the maximum bid ishave been slow to do. I have been advised that they
set at a below normal sale price.will probably have special delivery arrangements for
2. Lowest unique bid....has to be unmatched at thelarge items won by bidders living outside of the
close of the auction. Another couple of bidders couldUS.....makes sense!
of each bid...an identical lower price, but their bid wouldYou Can Become a Business Associate
not be unique. With this type of auction the startingAlso different about this new auction entertainment
price would be at the normal sale price.website is that a business opportunity has been
You can see that internet technology is the catalystincorporated. Business associates will be able to
for these auctions. Offline....the purpose of an auction ismarket the opportunity for the specific purpose of
to attain the highest possible bid price. The Collinsencouraging people to buy bid credits.
Dictionary defines an auction as 'a public sale whereWhat seems sure...is that this social competive
articles are sold to the highest bidder'. The emphasisinteraction as they call it...is highly likely to be very
with reverse auctions...seems to be more on itspopular. Therefore the business opportunity will very
competiveness...as opposed to the actual price.likely....be lucrative!
The Next Generation: Social Competive InteractionMy Summary
It should never be forgotten that the primary purposesAre these real auctions? You can look at it this way:
of the online auction sites are to sell products. BecauseThose auction houses where the bid causes the price
the items are sold at a fraction of their normal price...isto rise....even if the rise is fixed at only a penny or a
neither here nor their. It is great for the successfulnickel for each bid...do qualify under the definition of an
bidders, but every auction bid is paid for. I'll explain thatauction.
further.The auctions where each bid causes the item price to
To participate...you register online,select a usernamefail....surely are not auctions....but 'reverse auctions'. As in
and get some 'bid credits'. When you go to the site'done' and 'undone'.
and login with your username....you'll see your availableThese online auction sites are a new marketing outlet
'bid credits' displayed. As you bid...the number offor the product manufacturers and merchants.They
available bids reduces. If you're biding on the 'Bid toare good business for the auction sites, who make
Zero' auction house....the bids are 50cents to 66centstheir money on shifting quality products. The bidders
each. That bid puts the item price down 20 cents. Thecould pick-up a new car or TV or computer or a million
residue....the difference in the bid cost and the itemdollar life insurance policy....for example. Also they could
price reduction....goes to:do that for an outlay of $20 worth of bid credits and a
1.The cost of the purchase of the itemwhole heap of fun! That seems to make online auction
2.The cost of the freight and handling to the winningsites....a win-win-win situation....for all participants!
bidder