The range of auctions' contexts is extremely wide and one can buy almost anything, from a house to an endowment policy and everything in between. Some of the recent developments have been the use of the Internet both as a means of disseminating information about various auctions and as a vehicle for hosting auctions themselves.
Human commodity auctions As already mentioned in the history section, auctions have been used to trade
commodified people from the very first. Auctions have been used in
slave markets throughout history until modern times
in the post-Gaddafi era Libya. The word for slave auction in the
Atlantic slave trade was
scramble. A
child auction is a Swedish and Finnish historical practice of selling children into slavery-like conditions by authorities using a descending English auction.
Fattigauktion is a similar Swedish practice involving poor people being auctioned to church organizations.
Trade of wives by auctions was also a common practice throughout history. For instance, in the old
English custom of wife selling, a wife was divorced by selling her in a public auction for the highest bid.
ISIS conducted slave auctions to sell up to 7,000
Yazidi women as reported in 2020. A
virginity auction is the voluntary practice of individuals seeking to sell their own
virginity to the highest bid.
Cricket players are routinely put up for auction, whereby cricket teams can bid for their services.
Indian Premier League (IPL) started annual public auctioning of cricket players in 2008 as an entertainment for mass consumption. Also,
Bangladesh Premier League conducts cricket
player auctions, starting in 2012.
Real estate auctions In some countries, such as
Australia, auctioning is a common method for the sale of
real estate. Auctions were traditionally used as an alternative to the
private sale/treaty method to sell property that, due to their unique characteristics, were difficult to determine a price for. The law does not require a vendor to disclose their
reserve price prior to the auction. During the 1990s and 2000s, auctions became the primary method for the sale of real estate in the two largest cities,
Melbourne and
Sydney. This was largely due to the fact that in a private sale the vendor has disclosed the price that they want, and potential purchasers would attempt to
low-ball the price, whereas in an auction purchasers do not know what the vendor wants, and thus need to keep lifting the price until the reserve price is reached. The method has been the subject of increased controversy during the twenty-first century as
house prices sky-rocketed. The rapidly rising housing market saw many homes, especially in Victoria and New South Wales, selling for significantly more than both the vendors' reserve price and the advertised price range. Subsequently, the auction systems' lack of transparency about the value of the property was brought into question, with
estate agents and their vendor clients being accused of "under-quoting". Significant attention was given to the matter by the Australian media, with the government in Victoria eventually bowing to pressure and implementing changes to legislation in an effort to increase transparency. In the UK, historically, auction houses were perceived to sell properties which may have been where a home owner fails to make regular mortgage or were
probate sales family home being sold by the heirs). However, more recently, selling at auction has become an alternative to a normal property sale, due to the speedy nature of the entire process. In China, land auctions are under the sole control of local government officials. Because some developers may use bribes to please government officials to obtain the right to purchase the land, the central government requires that future land auctions be conducted using a
spectrum auction in order to prevent the spread of corruption. Although this method cannot completely solve the problem of corruption, it is still a significant contribution to the auction.
Auctions by authorities delinquent property tax list for auction by the County Treasurer A
government auction is simply an auction held on behalf of a government body generally at a general sale. Items for sale are often surplus needed to be liquidated. Auctions ordered by estate executors enter the assets of individuals who have perhaps died intestate (those who have died without leaving a will), or in debt. In legal contexts where
forced auctions occur, as when one's farm or house is sold at auction on the
courthouse steps. Property seized for
non-payment of property taxes, or under
foreclosure, is sold in this manner.
Police auctions are generally held at general auctions, although some forces use online sites including eBay, to dispose of lost and found and seized goods.
Debt auctions, in which governments issue and sell
debt obligations, such as
bonds, to investors. The auction is usually sealed and the uniform price paid by the investors is typically the best non-winning bid. In most cases, investors can also place so-called
non-competitive bids, which indicates interest to purchase the
debt obligation at the resulting price, whatever it may be. Some states use
courts to run such auctions. In
spectrum auctions conducted by the government, companies purchase licenses to use portions of the
electromagnetic spectrum for communications (e.g., mobile phone networks). In certain jurisdictions, if a
storage facility's tenant fails to pay rent, the contents of their locker(s) may be sold at a public auction. Several television shows focus on such auctions, including
Storage Wars and
Auction Hunters.
Commodity auctions at auction,
Walcha, NSW in
Tokyo ,
Hawaii Auctions are used to trade
commodities; for example, fish wholesale auctions. In wool auctions, wool is traded in the international market. The
wine auction business offers serious collectors an opportunity to gain access to rare bottles and mature vintages, which are not typically available through retail channels. In
livestock auctions, sheep, cattle, pigs and other livestock are sold. Sometimes very large numbers of stock are auctioned, such as the regular sales of 50,000 or more sheep during a day in
New South Wales. In
timber auctions, companies purchase licenses to log on government land. In timber allocation auctions, companies purchase timber directly from the government. In
electricity auctions, large-scale generators and distributors of electricity bid on generating contracts. Produce auctions link growers to localized wholesale buyers (buyers who are interested in acquiring large quantities of locally grown produce).
Online auctions Online auctions are a form of
E-commerce that relies on the advantages of a digital platform's ability to overcome geographical constraints, provide real-time information and reduce transaction costs, bringing greater convenience to people and allowing more people to participate as bidders, as well as being able to view a greater selection of auctions. Websites like
eBay provide a potential market of millions of bidders to sellers. Established auction houses, as well as specialist internet auctions, sell many things online, from antiques and collectibles to holidays, air travel, brand new computers, and household equipment.
Private electronic markets use combinatorial auction techniques to continuously sell commodities (coal, iron ore, grain, water, etc.) online to a pre-qualified group of buyers (based on price and non-price factors). Furthermore, online auctions facilitate the process for prospective bidders to discover and evaluate items by enabling searches across numerous auctions and employing filters to refine their selections. On the other hand, an alternative perspective suggests that the format of online auctions could also give rise to
collusive conduct and other types of
market manipulation, potentially skewing the market and diminishing its efficiency. Secondly, online auctions might ease the implementation of collusive arrangements among bidders. The accessibility of bidding data in online auctions, for instance, allows colluding bidders to monitor each other's bids, guarantee adherence to their agreements, and penalize non-compliance. This enhanced oversight capacity strengthens the stability of collusive agreements.
Unique item auctions • Motor vehicle and
car auctions – Here one can buy anything from an accident-damaged car to a brand new top-of-the-range model; from a run-of-the-mill family saloon to a rare collector's item. • Antiques and collectibles auctions give an opportunity for viewing a huge array of items. The sale of
collectibles includes items such as stamps, coins, vintage toys & trains, classic cars, and fine art. • On-site auctions – Sometimes when the stock or assets of a company are simply too vast or too bulky for an auction house to transport to their own premises and store, they will hold an auction within the confines of the bankrupt company itself. Bidders could find themselves bidding for items which are still plugged in, and the great advantage of these auctions taking place on the premises is that they have the opportunity to view the goods as they were being used, and may be able to try them out. Bidders can also avoid the possibility of goods being damaged whilst they are being removed as they can do it or at least supervise the activity. • Second-hand goods – For the sale of consumer
second-hand goods of all kinds, particularly farm (equipment) and house clearances and online auctions. • Sale of industrial machinery, both surplus or through insolvency. •
Thoroughbred horses, where yearling horses and other bloodstock are auctioned. • Travel tickets – One example is
SJ AB in Sweden auctioning surplus at Tradera (Swedish eBay). • Holidays – A variety of holidays are available for sale online particularly via eBay. Vacation rentals appear to be the most common. Many holiday auction websites have launched but failed. • Mystery auction – An auction where bidders bid for boxes or envelopes containing unspecified or underspecified items, usually on the hope that the items will be humorous, interesting, or valuable. In the early days of
eBay's popularity, sellers began promoting boxes or packages of random and usually low-value items not worth selling by themselves. • Some rare
CryptoKitties, which are tokens representing virtual cats, have been sold over automated
blockchain auctions for more than $200,000.
Other contexts •
Charity auctions – Used by nonprofits, higher education, and religious institutions as a method to raise funds for a specific mission or cause both through the act of bidding itself, and by encouraging participants to support the cause and make personal donations. Often, these auctions are linked with another charity event like a
benefit concert. • Insurance policies – Auctions are held for second-hand endowment policies. The attraction is that someone else has already paid substantially to set up the policy in the first place, and one will be able (with the help of a financial calculator) to calculate its real worth and decide whether it is worth taking on. Lloyd's, the world's
reinsurance market, runs auctions of syndicate capacity for the
underwriting. • Private treaty sales – Occasionally, when looking at an auction catalog some of the items have been withdrawn. Usually, these goods have been sold by 'private treaty'. This means that the goods have already been sold off, usually to a trader or dealer on a private, behind-the-scenes basis before they have had a chance to be offered at the auction sale. These goods are rarely in single lots – photocopiers or fax machines would generally be sold in bulk lots. • Environmental auctions, in which companies bid for licenses to avoid being required to decrease their environmental impact. These include auctions in
emissions trading schemes. ==Bidding strategy==