Silent Auction
How the Silent Auction Works
The silent auction will be a Vickery Auction, also known as a sealed-bid second-price auction.
In a Vickery Auction, each bidder may submit as many bids as they wish. However, only their highest bid will be accepted. Their other bids will be ignored. It is important to note that the time the bidder’s highest bid is received will also be recorded and it could impact who the winner is.
The bidder who submits the highest bid wins the auction, but the price is set by the second-highest bid.
In the event that two bidders enter the same winning price for an item, the winner will be the bidder who entered their bid first and the price will be the winning bid.
For MOS, the Vickery Auction has a number of advantages. First, it is very simple to hold the auction: we just need to record only each person’s highest bid and the time it was made, and then select the winner. Second, there is no advantage to bidding late in the auction; no information about other bids will be available. Third, a Vickery Auction results in an optimal outcome for all bidders.
If each bidder enters a bid of the maximum price that they are willing to pay for the item, then the Vickery Auction results in the optimal outcome for each bidder: either winning the auction at a price less than or equal to the bidder’s maximum price or losing the auction to someone who had a higher maximum price. Vickery auctions, with some modifications, are used in real estate by sellers of houses and on eBay.
Thanks to our sponsors for donating these fantastic silent auction prizes!
“Waterwitch,” painting of a Horned Grebe in winter plumage by Ellen Lawler. The watercolor painting has a black frame and an outer dimension of 20 x 16”. Valued at $300.
“Uncommon Loon,” painting of a Common Loon in winter plumage by Ellen Lawler. The watercolor painting has a black frame and an outer dimension of 11 x 17”. Valued at $225.
