Online auctions

Auctions online Online negotiations among qualified suppliers. Usually facilitated by software apphcations. 

Electronic marketplace/E-commerce In addition to the many databases available and person-to-person contacts, E-commerce in plastics has been conducted through suppliers web sites or the dot-commerce independent web sites that link material buyers with sellers in transactions or auction formats. During the year 2000 five plastic producers/suppliers and various elastomer producers/suppliers created a new and important business model of a joint-venture web site. It provides multiple companies to join forces to do business. This is a strategy some observers call competition and others regard as just another form of selling in. an electronic format. Regardless of how it is perceived, the model will help propel e-commerce into the mainstream of processor procurement due to the size and wealth of the companies involved. The plastic model example is the largest online business-to-business site todate. 

A friend and I were talking, and the conversation turned to the subject of online auctions and all the neat things you can buy. I mentioned to her that I had been looking for a vividly colored Bakelite radio, but the ones I liked were quite pricey. My friend, the owner of some Bakelite jewelry, agreed that it was an attractive material but added that it was just like plastic. Well, Bakelite isn t like plastic. It is a plastic. And, for me, that s no drawback — Bakelite is an astonishing material. 

Furthermore, the Internet saves people time shopping and running errands, no matter what they need to purchase or accomplish. You can place prescriptions online and purchase clothes and food on websites. You can even buy stocks and purchase a house online. If you are looking for a bargain or an unusual item, you can go to a popular auction site and either sell or buy. This ease in shopping makes life more flexible and easy. 

E-trading platform Focus on highly standardized commodity chemicals Real-time auctions Financial products for risk management E-exchange Focus on intermediates, fine chemicals and specialties Auctions based on bid and ask system Additional value added services, e.g., online product testing... 

To offer more choices and satisfaction to customers, business processes must be flexible and responsive. Web-based supply chain management, trading through online auctions, targeted marketing... 

Figure 5 eBay Online Auction Site. Reproduced with permission of eBay Inc. Copyright eBay Inc. All rights reserved. 

The distinguishing feature of an auction market is the presence of bids and offers and the competitive means by which the final price is reached. A wide variety of online markets will qualify as an auction using this definition. Less than two years after eBay appeared on the Internet, revenues from online auctions have reached billions of dollars in the United States, projected to grow into tens of billions in a few years. Major online auctions are in consumer products such as computers, airline tickets, and collectibles, but a growing segment of the market covers business markets where excess supplies and inventories are being auctioned off. 

Online auctions for business are an extension of supply chain applications of the Internet, by which firms seek parts and supplies from a large pool of potential business partners. The real-time interaction in these auctions differs significantly from contract-based supply relationships, which may be stable but often inefficient in terms of costs. A more flexible and responsive supply chain relationship is required as the manufacturing process itself becomes more flexible to meet changing demands in real time. Especially for digital products, the business relationship between suppliers and producers may be defined by the requirement for immediate delivery of needed components. 

Auctions selling consumer goods are mainly foimd in used merchandise tmd collectibles markets. Both in Onsale.com and eBay, all types of consumer goods are offered by individuals for sale. Ordinarily these items would have b n sold through classified advertisements in local newspapers or in various for sale newsgroups. Online innovations stem from the size of the potential audience and the real-time and interactive bidding process. 

Besides successful online versions of classified ads, another type of online auction deals with perishable goods, which need to be sold quickly. Excess airline tickets and surplus manufacturing products comprise the second type of products sold in online auction markets. For these products, the electronic marketplace offers the necessary global market reach and responsiveness. 

But an online implementation of a reverse auction—e.g., Priceline.com—deals with more mundane varieties of consumer goods and services. At Priceline.com website (http //www.priceline.com). 

Auctions are typically used when sellers are uncertain about market demand but wrmt to maximize selling prices. Conversely, buyers use auctions to obtain lowest prices for contracts and suppUes. If this is the case, why would sellers use online auctions when they can obtain higher prices through posed-piice selling Revenues are maximized, because since traditioned auctions usually involve one seller with multiple buyers or one buyer with multiple sellers. In each of these cases, the individual who sells an object or awards a contract is always better off as the number of bidders increases... 

The earliest example of auction-based multi-robot coordination, called contract net protocol [11], appeared about 30 years ago. Auction-based multi-robot coordination approaches have been growing in popularity in recent years. They have been successfully implemented in a variety of domains, such as robotic transport [12, 13], mapping and exploration [14], house cleaning [15], and reconnaissance [16]. Auction-based approaches are preferable in online applications in that they... 

Price-taker A buying organization that typically takes the low price every time. Generally requires a functional supply chain in the face of competitive alternatives. Prices often become the basis for selection in online auctions. 

Auctions have always provided sellers a way to pursue the highest possible price for an item, and perhaps to offer multiples of the same product at different prices (if auctioned separately). The growing reach and market acceptance of online auction-enablers such as eBay have led an increasing number of firms to consider adding an auction-based channel for regular sales (as opposed to the occasional liquidation of distressed inventory ) and for reaching individuals (as opposed to other firms) (Brown 2002). 

Computer languages are necessary for a wide variety of everyday applications, ranging from cell phones, microwaves, and security systems to banking, online purchases, Web sites, auction sites (such as eBay), social-networking sites (such as Facebook), and Internet search engines (such as Google). 

Priceline.com, located in Norwalk, Connecticut, developed its name-your-own-price system for its online auction type of business and has grown since it emerged in 1998. Visitors to the Web site can list the price they want to pay for travel-related services and items, including hotels, vacation packages, cruises, airplane tickets, and car rentals. Although it briefly tried to expand on its e-commerce activities to include home loans, long-distance telephone service, and cars, it discontinued these ventures in 2002 and has continued to excel in travel-related services. Its... 

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