Sniping in soft-close online auctions: empirical evidence from overstock

Wen Cao (), Qinyang Sha (), Zhiyong Yao (), Dingwei Gu () and Xiang Shao ()
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Wen Cao: Fudan University
Qinyang Sha: Megaputer Intelligence
Zhiyong Yao: Fudan University
Dingwei Gu: Fudan University
Xiang Shao: Fudan University

Marketing Letters, 2019, vol. 30, issue 2, No 5, 179-191

Abstract: Abstract The existing studies suggest that sniping is an equilibrium strategy in hard-close online auctions, but not in soft-close ones. In this paper, we use a unique, large-scale data set from soft-close Overstock and hard-close eBay to document sniping phenomena under the two different closing rules. Estimation results show that sniping is prominent on both websites, but they are prevalent at different times. On eBay, sniping occurs right before the auction close, while on Overstock sniping happens predominantly in a short window of time before the triggering period, during which any additional high bid automatically extends the online auction. Furthermore, the revenue effect of sniping is significantly stronger on Overstock than on eBay.

Keywords: Sniping; Hard-close auctions; Soft-close auctions; Revenue effect (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11002-019-09487-7

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