PerfAuction – Auction Types

Standard Auction

This is the most popular type of auction and probably the type that most users are accustomed to with online auctions. This is where the auctioneer sets the starting bid amount and the bidders drive the price up as they compete to outbid each other. The highest bidder at the close of the auction is the winner of the auction.

This type of auction is just the opposite of the Standard auction. The auctioneer sets the starting bid and the bidders drive the price down as they attempt to outbid each other. The lowest bidder at the close of the auction is the winner. This type of auction is perfectly suited for auctioning of jobs, services, or items wanted.

The Multiple Item auction, which is also known as a Dutch auction, is extremely common on business related sites. It is normally used when an auctioneer wants to offer multiple items for sale but does not need to sell them as a single lot to a single bidder. This means that the auctioneer is willing to sell one or more items to any and all successful bidders using a single Multiple Item auction. The bidder has the choice to bid on as few as one item or as many as the total number of items offered. The bidding process works very similarly to a Standard auction in that the bidders will drive the price up as they compete with each other. The winning bidders will be the highest bidders in the list that can be fulfilled with the quantity of items being auctioned. For example, if a Multiple Item (Dutch) Auction has 16 items up for bid and at least six bidders want three items each, then only the five highest bidders will get all three of the items that they wanted. The sixth bidder will only be able to get one item. Any subsequent bidders will not receive any items.

Fixed Price auctions allow the auctioneer to sell an item at a predetermined price to the first bidder that places a bid. As soon as a successful bid is placed, the auction is closed and the bidder wins the item.

A Turbo Auction, which can also be known as a “$1-No Reserve Auction” in it’s default configuration, allows the auctioneer to auction low priced items and possibly garner quick and enthusiastic bidding on highly desired items. This is done by forcing the Turbo Auction to always start at a low fixed amount (i.e. $1 – determine site wide by the administrator), and does not allow for a Reserve price option. Otherwise the Turbo Auction is just like a standard auction in that the highest bidder at the close of the auction is the winner of the auction.

The Blind auction may also be known as a Sealed Bid auction. Blind auctions are like a Standard auction in that the highest bidder at the close of the auction is the automatic winner of the auction. However, the difference is that the bidders and the auctioneer do not know any bid ranking until after the blind auction has closed. At closing, the highest bidder is revealed and that is the bidder which wins the auction.

A Barter auction can be used if the auctioneer is willing to consider options other than a straight exchange of cash for the item being auctioned. This allow bidders to offer anything that they want in exchange for an auction item. However, the auctioneer would normally provide some sort of indication of other goods of interest that would be considered for exchange. The bid on a Barter auction can include other items they want to trade, cash, or any combination of these. At the close of the auction, the auctioneer can pick which offer to accept.

A RFQ, or Request For Quotation, Auction would typically be issued by an individual or organization looking for a product or service that they will describe in the RFQ’s detail information. Then any persons or organizations that are interested in providing the product or service to the auctioneer can submit their bid for the products or services outlined in the RFQ. Their bid may typically include additional descriptions or features of their products and services in regards to the RFQ, as well as any other limiting terms of their bid submission. At the close of the auction, the auctioneer can choose which, if any, bid that he or she wants to accept.

Linked auctions can be used to link to items that are actually on another site. The auctioneer can enter the URL for the item, and then the bidder will be taken to that URL upon attempting to place a bid. The Linked auction feature is useful for linking items to external shopping carts, or affiliate purchasing sites.