The Determinants of Price in Internet Auctions of Used Cars

This study analyzes how auction, seller, and product factors influence the price premium in an eBay used car auction market. In auctions with at least one bid, the reputation of the seller, title status, and the time the auction ended influenced the price premium on the highest bid. For auctions that resulted in a sale, cars with clear title and dealers were able to secure significantly greater price premiums, but seller reputation had no significant effect. Using a binary logit model, cars had a greater probability of selling if the seller had a better reputation. The quality of the presentation and number of pictures did not enhance the price premium in any of the models. Copyright International Atlantic Economic Society 2007car auctions, internet auctions, pricing factors, D44, D82, L14,