Other places which have "for sale" ads (such as local papers) have a "wanted" section too, so I'm suprised eBay doesn't have one yet.
The starting price would be the maximum you were willing to pay, and people who had the item to sell would leave progressively lower prices until the end of the auction.
-- Jim, Aug 05 2000

Upside down auctions http://www.ewanted.com
That's pretty much the concept here, although having it under the e-bay brand might be more effective. [jutta, Aug 05 2000]

Reverseauction http://www.reverseauction.com
Same here, too, sort of. [StarChaser, Aug 05 2000]

This is not a link http://www.notalink.not
beauxeault's link deleted because eBay auctions disappear a month after the auction finishes. There are still people trying to buy stuff on eBay, though. Just look for items that have a starting price of over $90,000 (to stop people bidding on them). [Jim, Aug 05 2000]

You could theoretically do this on eBay now.

Instead of auctioning off a good, auction off an *option to sell the good to you* at your maximum price. Bidding starts at zero...

For example, suppose you, Jim Q. Public, want Widget X. You're willing to pay up to $100 for it. So, you auction off an option to sell one Widget X to Jim Q. Public at $100. Bidding starts at $0. Suppose the winner of the auction pays $25. They give you $25 for the option, and then exercise the option; you give them $100, and receive Widget X. Effectively, you've just paid $75 for it.

Nobody would ever bid above the option price, of course -- that would be selling the good at a negative price. The only problem is that the bid increments wouldn't be quite right; you'd want them to get smaller, not larger, as the amount approaches the maximum price.

The winner of the auction could choose not to exercise the option, but then you just get free money. Presumably the option would have a time limit.
-- egnor, Aug 06 2000


[StarChaser] -- I don't think Reverseauction.com qualifies. Not even sort of.

if I understand correctly, reverseauction.com has one seller, many buyers; Jim's idea would involve many sellers, one buyer.

At reverseauction.com, price goes down automatically until it hits the top buyer. In Jim's system, prices are driven down by competing offers to sell.
-- jutta, Aug 06 2000


Hence 'sort of'...
-- StarChaser, Aug 06 2000


egnor, the guy trying to buy a ticket to Munich on eBay (see my link above) will probably get no bids, since eBay's system requires the low bidder to be the first bidder. You should email him to tell him about your suggestion on how to make it work (i.e. by auctioning the option to sell).
-- beauxeault, Aug 22 2000


Growing up English-speaking, I learned to call reverse auctions "Dutch auctions" and everyone paying for him/herself on an outing, "going Dutch". Any connection with this thread?
-- rayfo, Nov 21 2000


I think I'm right in saying that in the UK you don't need a license to run a dutch auction but you do for a regular one. Hence their popularity. I believe it was used a lot at fish markets when we still caught fish.
-- Gordon Comstock, Feb 13 2001


'Dutch' auctions are used in the Netherlands in the big flower markets. You can visit some of them as tourist attractions, if you're not too stoned: they are conducted incredibly quickly, even faster than conventionally-directional livestock auctions over here (Scotland). I guess this is the origin of the phrase. No idea about going dutch, dutch caps, etc, since I didn't date any of the locals.
-- pottedstu, Sep 17 2001


You can pre order kinds of flowers that don't exist yet. It's funny this Dutch thing, it's much like the American dream.
-- postseti, Jul 08 2002



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