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A structural model of competing sellers: Auctions and posted prices

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  • Hammond, Robert G.

Abstract

In an original data set of goods listed for sale online, I observe that both auctions and posted prices are popular with buyers and sellers in the compact-disc market. To explain why these two mechanisms coexist, I estimate a structural model of competing sellers who differ in the value of their outside options. Buyers are allowed to value auctioned and posted-price goods differently but the estimated value distributions suggest that differences across buyers do not explain the mechanism coexistence that I observe. In contrast, differences across sellers' outside options are important: the value of the outside option segments the market with high outside-option sellers choosing to post a fixed price. There are two key forces at work that drive this empirical result. First, competition between sellers favors coexistence over an auction-only or a posted-price-only marketplace because sellers prefer to be in a market with fewer rivals. Second, sellers with more valuable outside options prefer the posted-price mechanism because posted-price goods sell less often than auctioned goods but at a higher price. As a result, a larger outside option reduces the loss from not selling and favors the posted-price mechanism.

Suggested Citation

  • Hammond, Robert G., 2013. "A structural model of competing sellers: Auctions and posted prices," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 52-68.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:60:y:2013:i:c:p:52-68
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2013.01.009
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Banerjee, Shraman, 2021. "Treating Symmetric Buyers Asymmetrically," MPRA Paper 105971, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Zhang, Hanzhe, 2021. "The optimal sequence of prices and auctions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    3. Anwar, Sajid & Zheng, Mingli, 2015. "Posted price selling and online auctions," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 81-92.
    4. Dorfleitner, Gregor & Rad, Jacqueline & Weber, Martina, 2017. "Pricing in the online invoice trading market: First empirical evidence," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 56-61.
    5. Shraman Banerjee, 2022. "Treating Symmetric Buyers Asymmetrically," Working Papers 2022-02, Shiv Nadar University, Department of Economics.
    6. Hummel, Patrick, 2015. "Simultaneous use of auctions and posted prices," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 269-284.
    7. Caio Waisman, 2021. "Selling mechanisms for perishable goods: An empirical analysis of an online resale market for event tickets," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 127-178, June.
    8. Chen, Kong-Pin & Lai, Hung-pin & Yu, Ya-Ting, 2018. "The seller's listing strategy in online auctions: Evidence from eBay," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 107-144.
    9. Vladimir Pavlov & Ron Berman, 2019. "Price Manipulation in Peer-to-Peer Markets and the Sharing Economy," Working Papers 19-10, NET Institute.
    10. Zaiyan Wei & Mingfeng Lin, 2017. "Market Mechanisms in Online Peer-to-Peer Lending," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(12), pages 4236-4257, December.
    11. Platt, Brennan C., 2017. "Inferring ascending auction participation from observed bidders," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 65-88.
    12. Xiaohu Qian & Mingqiang Yin & Felix T. S. Chan & Kai Yue, 2023. "Winner Determination with Sustainable-Flexible Considerations Under Demand Uncertainty in Transportation Service Procurement Auctions," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 953-984, December.
    13. Dominic Coey & Bradley J. Larsen & Brennan C. Platt, 2020. "Discounts and Deadlines in Consumer Search," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(12), pages 3748-3785, December.
    14. Andrew Sweeting, 2015. "A Model of Non-Stationary Dynamic Price Competition with an Application to Platform Design," Working Papers 15-03, NET Institute.
    15. Feess, Eberhard & Grund, Christian & Walzl, Markus & Wohlschlegel, Ansgar, 2020. "Competing trade mechanisms and monotone mechanism choice," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 280(3), pages 1108-1121.
    16. Xinyuan Liu & Zaiyan Wei & Mo Xiao, 2020. "Platform Mispricing and Lender Learning in Peer-to-Peer Lending," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 56(2), pages 281-314, March.
    17. Bauner, Christoph, 2015. "Mechanism choice and the buy-it-now auction: A structural model of competing buyers and sellers," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 19-31.
    18. Andrew Sweeting, 2012. "Dynamic Pricing Behavior in Perishable Goods Markets: Evidence from Secondary Markets for Major League Baseball Tickets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 120(6), pages 1133-1172.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Auction; Posted price; Competing sellers; Outside option;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection

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