Emerging behavior in electronic bidding

Abstract

We characterize the statistical properties of a large number of agents on two major online auction sites. The measurements indicate that the total number of bids placed in a single category and the number of distinct auctions frequented by a given agent follow power-law distributions, implying that a few agents are responsible for a significant fraction of the total bidding activity on the online market. We find that these agents exert an un-proportional influence on the final price of the auctioned items. This domination of online auctions by an unusually active minority may be a generic feature of all online mercantile processes.

4pages, 5figures

References in corpus (4)

• Statistical mechanics of complex networks
• Clustering and preferential attachment in growing networks
• Dynamical and correlation properties of the Internet
• Bid distributions of competing agents in simple models of auctions

Cited by in corpus (7)

• The BARISTA: A model for bid arrivals in online auctions
• eBay users form stable groups of common interest
• Equilibrium strategy and population-size effects in lowest unique bid auctions
• Bidding process in online auctions and winning strategy:rate equation approach
• Statistical properties of online auctions
• Network analysis of online bidding activity
• Complex temporal structure of activity in on-line electronic auctions