To prevent people from bidding at the last second to prevent others from having a chance, the end time for an item should be randomized, somewhat. An auction could end any time within about ten minutes of the set end time. This would encourage people to get their bids in earlier, causing prices to go higher.
[Maxwell] - I don't mean to semi-copy your idea; I thought of this a while ago and your idea reminded me of it.-- apocalyps956, Jun 12 2008 Sorry, no. I'm just not liking the possibility of random early endings that could exclude bidders.-- MisterQED, Jun 12 2008 I've wondered about the notion of having indefinite auctions along with timed-duration bids, particularly for valuable but obscure items. A part for a rare pinball machine may be worth $100 to someone who needs it, but such a person may only come along once every few months. If such a person saw such a machine listed, he may not want to wait a few months for a long-term auction to expire. He could post an offer that was good for, say, a week; the seller could either accept the offer or decline it. If the seller did not accept the offer within a week, the person making the offer would have no further obligation.-- supercat, Jun 12 2008 This is a bad idea - the best auction strategy is when everyone knows what's happenning (game theory and all that schtuff).-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 12 2008 Well, in theory, everyone knows that things become indefinite 10 minutes either side of close.
That fits in with game theory, doesn't it?
Some people will risk waiting, some people will bid immediately -- and drive up prices.
There will be a static fallout that some people will measure and take advantage of.
I don't think this will do anything other then make online auctions other then more of the miserable time-wasting experience they already are.-- mylodon, Jun 12 2008 What if the auction ends anytime within a 10 minute window after the posted time? So you set the auction to end at 10:00:00, then the auction can end then or any time until 10:10:00? Plenty of time for last ten minute bidding, but might stop a sniper.-- Noexit, Jun 13 2008 I thought "end times" meant something else, which is why I thought this must be some way of getting eBay to determine the date of the apocalypse.-- hippo, Jun 13 2008 random, halfbakery