Form of Auctions

English Auction: This auction is used at English auction houses like Phillips, Sotheby's, and Christie's. The process starts when the auctioneer announces the item and the minimum bid. Individuals openly try to outbid each other. The item is sold when the 'buy-out' price is reached or when there is no other person willing to place a higher bid. The 'buy-out' price is a pre-determined amount that is set by the seller. This is also known as a reserve price. This is the lowest amount at which the seller is willing to sell the item. This gives the seller the right to refuse the sale if the final bid does not reach the reserve price.

One variant of the English auction is the silent auction wherein people can write down their bids together with their name on a piece of paper. At the end of the auction, the bids will be calculated and the highest bidder wins the item.

Dutch Auction: In this auction, the auctioneer begins by announcing the highest asking price. The amount is then lowered until someone is willing to buy the item. The bidder pays for the last announced price. This auction is convenient if the seller wants to sell the goods quickly since the process requires just a single bid to get a sale.

Chinese Auction: This combine an auction and a raffle. The bidders are not the ones who will call the price. Instead, the bidders will buy a ticker or tickets and place them inside the "hat" from which the winners will be drawn for a specific item. The bidders can buy as much tickets as they want to increase their chances of winning. The term is more likely to come from "chance auction".

Sealed auction: In this Auction, bidder place their bids in an envelope, usually in an envelope.The one bid the highest wins the item. A similar version, called the second-price sealed auction is the auction where the highest bidder wins but pays the price of the second highest bid.

All-pay Auction: In this Auction , all the bidders have to pay for the amount they bid regardless of whether they win or not. The one bid the highest wins the item.