IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/elcore/v23y2023i2d10.1007_s10660-021-09508-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of surcharge on price in online auctions

Author

Listed:
  • Ernan Haruvy

    (McGill University)

  • Boram Lim

    (University of Kansas)

  • Peter T. L. Popkowski Leszczyc

    (University of Queensland)

Abstract

We examine auctions for identical items with different surcharges. We find an inverted U-shape relationship between the surcharge amount and the price premium for the auction with the higher surcharge. To explain this pattern, we fit an empirical model with a two-stage process for the consideration of surcharges. In the first stage, consumers choose between two identical auctions, and in the second stage, they determine whether to place a bid. Using a novel online auction dataset that includes search and bids, we find the determinants of both search and bid, and map the relationship between surcharge and expected revenue. We note that the optimal surcharge changes inversely with bidders’ level of experience and the expected number of bidders. The findings show conditions under which consumers fail to accurately process price and surcharge differences.

Suggested Citation

  • Ernan Haruvy & Boram Lim & Peter T. L. Popkowski Leszczyc, 2023. "The effect of surcharge on price in online auctions," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 1161-1182, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:elcore:v:23:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s10660-021-09508-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s10660-021-09508-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10660-021-09508-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10660-021-09508-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James J. Heckman, 1976. "The Common Structure of Statistical Models of Truncation, Sample Selection and Limited Dependent Variables and a Simple Estimator for Such Models," NBER Chapters, in: Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, Volume 5, number 4, pages 475-492, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Boone, Tonya & Ganeshan, Ram, 2013. "Exploratory analysis of free shipping policies of online retailers," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(2), pages 627-632.
    3. Hossain Tanjim & Morgan John, 2006. "...Plus Shipping and Handling: Revenue (Non) Equivalence in Field Experiments on eBay," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 5(2), pages 1-30, January.
    4. Marco Bertini & Elie Ofek & Dan Ariely, 2009. "The Impact of Add-On Features on Consumer Product Evaluations," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 36(1), pages 17-28, June.
    5. Amar Cheema, 2008. "Surcharges and Seller Reputation," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(1), pages 167-177, February.
    6. Luc Wathieu & Marco Bertini, 2007. "Price as a Stimulus to Think: The Case for Willful Overpricing," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(1), pages 118-129, 01-02.
    7. Carlson, Jay P. & Weathers, Danny, 2008. "Examining differences in consumer reactions to partitioned prices with a variable number of price components," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(7), pages 724-731, July.
    8. Michael Lewis & Vishal Singh & Scott Fay, 2006. "An Empirical Study of the Impact of Nonlinear Shipping and Handling Fees on Purchase Incidence and Expenditure Decisions," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(1), pages 51-64, 01-02.
    9. Jennifer Brown & Tanjim Hossain & John Morgan, 2010. "Shrouded Attributes and Information Suppression: Evidence from the Field," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(2), pages 859-876.
    10. Ernan Haruvy & Peter T. L. Popkowski Leszczyc, 2010. "Search and Choice in Online Consumer Auctions," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(6), pages 1152-1164, 11-12.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Johannes Voester & Bjoern Ivens & Alexander Leischnig, 2017. "Partitioned pricing: review of the literature and directions for further research," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 879-931, October.
    2. Jiang, Yuanchun & Shang, Jennifer & Liu, Yezheng, 2013. "Optimizing shipping-fee schedules to maximize e-tailer profits," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 634-645.
    3. Katja Seim & Maria Ana Vitorino & David M. Muir, 2017. "Do consumers value price transparency?," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 305-339, December.
    4. Rodemeier, Matthias, 2021. "Buy baits and consumer sophistication: Theory and field evidence from large-scale rebate promotions," CAWM Discussion Papers 124, University of Münster, Münster Center for Economic Policy (MEP).
    5. Choi, Jungsil & Madhavaram, Sreedhar R. & Park, Hyun Young, 2020. "The Role of Hedonic and Utilitarian Motives on the Effectiveness of Partitioned Pricing," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 251-265.
    6. Marco Bertini & Luc Wathieu, 2008. "Research Note—Attention Arousal Through Price Partitioning," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(2), pages 236-246, 03-04.
    7. Shelle Santana & Steven K. Dallas & Vicki G. Morwitz, 2020. "Consumer Reactions to Drip Pricing," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 39(1), pages 188-210, January.
    8. David Bürgin & Robert Wilken, 2022. "Increasing Consumers’ Purchase Intentions Toward Fair-Trade Products Through Partitioned Pricing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 181(4), pages 1015-1040, December.
    9. Markus Dertwinkel-Kalt & Mats Köster & Matthias Sutter, 2019. "To Buy or not to Buy? Shrouding and Partitioning of Prices in an Online Shopping Field Experiment," CESifo Working Paper Series 7475, CESifo.
    10. Hu Wang & Di Li & Changbin Jiang, 2023. "Online retailers' price structure decisions in competitive markets: A structure–conduct–performance framework," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(2), pages 1125-1141, March.
    11. Dertwinkel-Kalt, Markus & Köster, Mats & Sutter, Matthias, 2020. "To buy or not to buy? Price salience in an online shopping field experiment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    12. Huang, Wen-Hsien & Shen, George C. & Liang, Che-Ling, 2019. "The effect of threshold free shipping policies on online shoppers' willingness to pay for shipping," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 105-112.
    13. Chioveanu, Ioana & Zhou, Jidong, 2009. "Price Competition and Consumer Confusion," MPRA Paper 17340, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Nicola Lacetera & Devin G. Pope & Justin R. Sydnor, 2012. "Heuristic Thinking and Limited Attention in the Car Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(5), pages 2206-2236, August.
    15. Gesche, Tobias, 2018. "Reference Price Shifts and Customer Antagonism: Evidence from Reviews for Online Auctions," VfS Annual Conference 2018 (Freiburg, Breisgau): Digital Economy 181650, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    16. Shao, Xiao-Feng, 2017. "Free or calculated shipping: Impact of delivery cost on supply chains moving to online retailing," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 267-277.
    17. Xavier Gabaix & David Laibson, 2018. "Shrouded attributes, consumer myopia and information suppression in competitive markets," Chapters, in: Victor J. Tremblay & Elizabeth Schroeder & Carol Horton Tremblay (ed.), Handbook of Behavioral Industrial Organization, chapter 3, pages 40-74, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    18. Jason Shachat & Lijia Wei, 2012. "Procuring Commodities: First-Price Sealed-Bid or English Auctions?," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(2), pages 317-333, March.
    19. Florian Englmaier & Andreas Roider & Lars Schlereth & Steffen Sebastian, 2023. "Round-Number Effects in Real Estate Prices: Evidence from Germany," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 446, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    20. Hu Wang & Di Li & Changbin Jiang & Yuxiang Zhang, 2023. "Exploring the Interactive Relationship between Retailers’ Free Shipping Decisions and Manufacturers’ Product Sales in Digital Retailing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-19, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:elcore:v:23:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s10660-021-09508-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.