Trust and Reputation in Internet Auctions

Exchange between anonymous actors in Internet auctions corresponds to a one-shot prisoner's dilemma-like situation. Therefore, in any given auction the risk is high that seller and buyer will cheat and, as a consequence, that the market will collapse. However, mutual cooperation can be attained by the simple and very efficient institution of a public rating system. By this system, sellers have incentives to invest in reputation in order to enhance future chances of business. Using data from about 200 auctions of mobile phones we empirically explore the effects of the reputation system. In general, the analysis of nonobtrusive data from auctions may help to gain a deeper understanding of basic social processes of exchange, reputation, trust, and cooperation, and of the impact of institutions on the efficiency of markets. In this study we report empirical estimates of effects of reputation on characteristics of transactions such as the probability of a successful deal, the mode of payment, and the selling price (highest bid). In particular, we try to answer the question whether sellers receive a "premium" for reputation. Our results show that buyers are willing to pay higher prices for reputation in order to diminish the risk of exploitation. On the other hand, sellers protect themselves from cheating buyers by the choice of an appropriate payment mode. Therefore, despite the risk of mutual opportunistic behavior, simple institutional settings lead to cooperation, relatively rare events of fraud, and efficient markets.

Bibliotheca mexicana: or, A catalogue of the library of rare books and important manuscripts relating to Mexico and other parts of Spanish America, formed by the late Señor Don José Fernando Ramirez ...days of sale ...July [7-9, 12-13, 1880] ...sold ...by Puttick and Simpson ...

Mode of access: Internet.

Auction prices of books;

"In making this selection it has been the aim to include every important book (selling above the limit of price) in the following broad classes: 1. Books printed in England, or books in the English language printed abroad ... 2. Americana, in its broadest sense ... 3. Books printed ... in the various countries in Continental Europe before 1520 ..."

Un Giorno in Venezia = A day in Venice : for the pianoforte ; Op. 25 /

Pl. nos.: 12868-3; 12858-5; 12869-3; 12887-4.

Danse rituelle du feu = Danza ritual del fuego = Ritual fire dance /

Originally for orchestra.

Salesmanship,

Mode of access: Internet.

So white, so soft, so sweet is she /

Distributor from cover, p. [4]

A record of books & letters,

Supplement: Items ... acquired too late for insertion in Mr. Arnold's Catalogue of American first editions": p. 105-106.

Agents' record.

Description based on surrogate of Vol. 8, no. 3 (Mar. 1913); title from cover.

Special incentives for salesmen in the South; a study in selected motivation procedures.

Mode of access: Internet.

Newspaper district management, including the hour-a-day plan of training newspaper boys to sell,/

Mode of access: Internet.

The history of the Five Indian nations of Canada,

Sabin, 14273, Sabin notes: "The English editor also shows an antipathy to Indian names, suppressing them habitually, striking out important passages, and, instead of the speeches which Colden gives at length, substitutes meagre abridgments. In fact, the whole work is so cut up and altered, that the reader of the English edition cannot be sure he is quoting Colden at all"

The Business world.

Subtitle varies: an office magazine; a magazine of practical business.

The R & R sales training course.

[v. 1] Plan and action in life underwriting.-[v. 2] The fundamentals of life underwriting.-[v. 3] Life situations and life underwriting.-[v. 4] The sales process of life underwriting.

What you can do about unsolicited telephone marketing calls, faxes /

Mode of access: Internet.