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Hold a reverse auction instead - start high and lower it until you get just enough takers.
by Qworg 10y ago
Hold a reverse auction instead - start high and lower it until you get just enough takers.
- mistermann 10y agoWhy would you start high, that's going to maximize your cost not minimize.
- koenigdavidmj 10y agoBecause people are selfish and might volunteer to get 800 for themselves rather than let some other guy get 1200 (even if 1200 is the legal maximum).
- FabHK 10y agoNo, if you start low, people might basically implicitly "conspire" to keep their hands down, and when the first "breaks" the cartel at some high price, all hands will shoot up. Better to reverse auction until only 4 hands are left. It should end up cheaper (and fairer, incidentally, as it will closer to true preferences)
- thaumasiotes 10y agoThat's a terrible idea. It would be a PR disaster each and every time you tried to do it.
- ghaff 10y agoI can just imagine holding some weird auction that 95% of people are unfamiliar with in a crowded boarding area full of annoyed passengers :-) That will end well.
- RyanCavanaugh 10y agoI've been in boarding areas where this happened. The offer started at $400 and ended up at $1,000 by the time they got enough people to accept. No one was outraged (and I was quite happy to get 2x$1,000 in vouchers in exchange for a minor inconvenience).
- ghaff 10y agoThat's not a reverse auction. A reverse action is offering $2K. More people than we need. OK, how about $1500? Still too many. $1000? OK, right number. "Wait! You offered us $2K and now you're only going to give us $1K. Lying POSs." At least that's what I think people are referring to as a reverse auction in this context. I'm not sure if that's a totally accurate description or not.
- thaumasiotes 10y agoDo you really think "The offer started at $400 and ended up at $1,000" matches the description "start high and lower it"?