Everybody’s An Auctioneer
The users, who are now a combination of bidders and auctioneers, run online actions. E-bay allows every person with Internet access the opportunity to sell or collect books, clothing, luggage, cosmetics, electronics, cars, antiques, art, real estate, you name it, you can bid on it online. In some respects, the auctioneer can set their own price because unlike a regular auction, they can reject bids if they don’t reach a certain dollar amount. They can also set up a “buy now” tag, which allows the bidder to beat all other possible bidders and purchase the desired object.
The elements of interactivity benefit online auctions because it allows the user to participate as much as a traditional auction. In terms of purchasing, the user can watch items that they are interested in, see if a higher bid was made and allows them to counter it with more money. Browsing doesn’t have enough interactivity associated with it, in my opinion. You type in what you are looking for and E-bay or other online auction houses, spit back possible items of interest. You can try different keywords or search words but other than that, the searching interactivity is limited.
The whole point of bumping up the level of interactivity is to engage the user. Make it fun and people will use it. Personally, E-bay has nothing on the excitement level of a traditional auction. Being face-to-face with your competitors is a thrill that online auctions have not yet beat. Creating video auctioning could be the future of online bidding, exhilaration from the comfort of your screen.
