How does an online auction affect the demand and supply curve?

Public Comments

  1. I would say an online auction has the same affect on the supply/demand curve as the same sale in a retail store for most items. More consumers for your product = more demand. So the supply curve stays the same while the demand cure shifts to the right for the added sales demand.
  2. He's right. Read the book "The long Tail" by the editor of Wired Magazine. It talks about the affects of the Internet and Amazon.com on the book industry and on the music industry. The long tail is the tail at the end of the bell curve which is the normal distribution curve. Because buyers and sellers in nitche markets can find each other on the net, you will never get to the end of the curve. So an on line auction skews the curve to the right as he said above, more stuff can be sold at a higher price to more buyers. Only on the net can you sell silly stuff like articles of clothing from movie stars for outrageous prices. Does that make sense?
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