A seller’s perspective characterization methodology for online auctions

Online auction services have reached great popularity and revenue over the last years. A key component for this success is the seller. Few studies proposed analyzing how the seller and the auction configuration affect the negotiation results. In this work we propose a methodology to characterize on-line auctions by the seller’s perspective. This methodology is based on: (1) recognizing the characteristics of the vari-ables related to the auction results and (2) capturing the correlation among these variables to identify seller profiles and selling strategies. We applied our methodology to a real case study, using an eBay dataset, to validate two hy-potheses about sellers and their practices. These results are useful to understand the complex mechanisms that guide ending prices, success (or failure), and the attraction of bids in online auctions, which can support decision strategies for buyers and sellers. Categories and Subject Descriptor