Week # 9 - Dynamic Trading: E-Auctions, Bartering, and Negotiations

Chapter 10 Objectives:

Define the various types of e-auctions and list their characteristics.
Describe forward and reverse auctions.
Describe the benefits and limitations of e-auctions.
Describe some unique e-auction models.
Describe the various services that support e-auctions.
Describe bartering and negotiating.
Describe the hazards of e-auction fraud and discuss possible countermeasures.
Describe e-auction deployment and implementation issues.
Analyze mobile and future directions of e-auctions.
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When I think about dynamic trading and e-auctions - I automatically think
about Ebay. Ebay is probably one of the most successful and profitable e-businesses.
Who doesn't use Ebay ? for a while I was using ebay as a tool to sell designer cloths
that I bought for bargain prices at reduced-cost stores such as TJ Maxx.
Nowadays, I use ebay mostly to buy products that cannot be bought at regular retail stores; such as expensive hair products, cosmetics etc' . I can use Ebay's search engine to find good deals. It is not too complicated to win an auction on ebay, although sometimes the competition between bidders can bring the final price up, to the point that it is not considered a bargain anymore. So knowing how to bid and when to stop bidding is important too.

When selling goods on Ebay one needs to perform some market research beforehand,
and make sure the item put on auction has a good demand on the market. A Search for similar products or identical products should be done in order to determine a starting bidding price that has some kind of an advantage.

Excellent customer service is a key point on Ebay. Sellers must maintain good reputation by granting customers with good service, and in return obtaining good feedback. Bidders should always check the sellers feedback to see if there are any major complaints about products, service, shipping etc'.
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Here's an interesting article from businessweek.com about a small business in Cambridge called

cMarket. It manages online charity auctions, like the ones you have at churches . cMarket has been selling its auctioning services to Non Profit organizations since 2003. This article is from Nov 2006 (not that it matters).

http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/nov2006/sb20061101_288379.htm?chan=search