Editing Auction (section)

==History==
===Classical antiquity===
[[File:Babylonian_marriage_market.jpg|thumb|right|''[[The Babylonian Marriage Market]]'', Edwin Long, 1875]]
Auctions have been recorded as early as 500 BC.<ref>[[#Krishna2002|Krishna, 2002: p1]]</ref> According to [[Herodotus]], in Babylon, auctions of women for marriage were held annually. The auctions began with the woman the auctioneer considered to be the most beautiful and progressed to the least beautiful. It was considered illegal to allow a daughter to be sold outside of the auction method.<ref name="#Shubik|Shubik, 2004: p214">[[Auction#Shubik|Shubik, 2004: p214]]</ref> Attractive maidens were offered in a [[forward auction]] to determine the price to be paid by a swain, while unattractive maidens required a [[reverse auction]] to determine the price to be paid to a swain.<ref name=cassady>{{cite book |last1=Cassady |first1=Ralph |title=Auctions and Auctioneering |date=1967 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-03978-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8e3__eR77D4C |language=en}}</ref>

Auctions took place in [[Auctions in ancient Greece|Ancient Greece]], other Hellenistic societies, and also in [[Rome]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Morcillo |first1=Marta Garcia |title=Staging Power and Authority at Roman Auctions |journal=Ancient Society |date=2008 |volume=38 |pages=153–181 |doi=10.2143/AS.38.0.2033274 |jstor=44080266}}</ref> During the [[Roman Empire]], after a military victory, Roman soldiers would often drive a spear into the ground around which the spoils of war were left, to be auctioned off. Slaves, often captured as the "spoils of war", were auctioned in the Forum under the sign of the spear, with the proceeds of sale going toward the war effort.<ref name="#Shubik|Shubik, 2004: p214" />

The Romans also used auctions to [[liquidate]] the assets of debtors whose property had been confiscated.<ref name="Shubik, 2004: p215">[[#Shubik|Shubik, 2004: p215]]</ref> For example, [[Marcus Aurelius]] sold household furniture to pay off debts, the sales lasting for months.<ref name="Doyle">{{Citation|last1=Doyle |first1=Robert A. |last2=Baska |first2=Steve |title=History of Auctions: From ancient Rome to today's high-tech auctions |journal=Auctioneer |date=November 2002 |access-date=2008-06-22 |url=http://www.auctioneersfoundation.org/news_detail.php?id=5094 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517071614/http://auctioneersfoundation.org/news_detail.php?id=5094 |archive-date=2008-05-17 }}</ref> One of the most significant historical auctions was in 193 AD, when the entire Roman Empire was put on the auction block by the [[Praetorian Guard]]. On 28 March 193, the Praetorian Guard first killed emperor [[Pertinax]], then offered the empire to the highest bidder. [[Didius Julianus]] won the auction at the price of 6,250 [[Ancient drachma|drachmas]] per guard,{{clarify|date=May 2024}}<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kq6rec7KLkoC&q=rome+auction+%226,250+drachmas%22&pg=PA81|title=Principles of Pricing: An Analytical Approach|last1=Vohra|first1=Rakesh V.|last2=Krishnamurthi|first2=Lakshman|date=2012-03-05|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-01065-9|page=81|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=COCqBgAAQBAJ&q=rome+auction+193&pg=PA13|title=Rome and its Empire, AD 193-284|last1=Hekster|first1=Olivier|date=2008-07-03|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-0-7486-2992-3|page=13|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DePLWNBEvfQC&pg=PA499|title=The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Coinage|last1=Metcalf|first1=William E.|date=2012-02-23|publisher=Oxford UP|isbn=978-0-19-530574-6|page=499|language=en}}</ref> an act that initiated a brief civil war. Didius was [[Decapitation|beheaded]] two months later when [[Septimius Severus]] conquered Rome.<ref name="Shubik, 2004: p215" />

From the end of the Roman Empire to the 18th century, auctions lost favor in Europe,<ref name="Shubik, 2004: p215" /> while they had never been widespread in Asia.<ref name="#Shubik|Shubik, 2004: p214" /> In China, the personal belongings of deceased [[Buddhist monk]]s were sold at auction as early as the seventh century AD.<ref name=cassady/>

===Modern revival===
[[File:Peep-at-Christies-Gillray.jpeg|thumb|left|''A Peep at Christies'' (1796) – caricature of actress [[Elizabeth Farren]] and huntsman [[Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby|Lord Derby]] examining paintings at Christie's, by [[James Gillray]]]]
[[File:An Auction at the Hotel Drouot, Paris.jpg|thumb|right|A late 19th Century auction at the [[Hôtel Drouot]], Paris (painting by [[Albert Bettannier]])]]
The first mention of "auction", according to the [[Oxford English Dictionary]], appeared in 1595.<ref name=cassady/> In some parts of England during the 17th and 18th centuries, [[Candle auction|auctions by candle]] began to be used for the sale of goods and leaseholds.<ref name="Patten">R.W. Patten. "Tatworth Candle Auction." ''Folklore'' 81, No. 2 (Summer 1970), 132-135</ref> In a candle auction, the end of the auction was signaled by the expiration of a candle flame, which was intended to ensure that no one could know exactly when the auction would end and make a last-second bid. Sometimes, other unpredictable events, such as a [[footrace]], were used instead of the expiration of a candle. This type of auction was first mentioned in 1641 in the records of the House of Lords.<ref name="Walsh">William S. Walsh ''A Handy Book Of Curious Information Comprising Strange Happenings in the Life of Men and Animals, Odd Statistics, Extraordinary Phenomena and Out of the Way Facts Concerning the Wonderlands of the Earth''. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co., 1913. 63-64.</ref> The practice rapidly became popular, and in 1660 [[Samuel Pepys]]' diary recorded two occasions when the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] sold surplus ships "by an inch of candle". Pepys also relates a hint from a highly successful bidder who had observed that, just before expiring, a candle-wick always flares up slightly: on seeing this, he would shout his final – and winning – bid.

The ''[[London Gazette]]'' began reporting on the auctioning of artwork in the [[coffeehouse]]s and [[tavern]]s of London in the late 17th century.
The first known [[auction house]] in the world was the [[Stockholm Auction House]], [[Sweden]] (''Stockholms Auktionsverk''), founded by Baron Claes Rålamb in 1674.<ref name="Auktionsverk">{{citation |last1=Varoli |first1=John |title=Swedish Auction House to Sell 8 Million Euros of Russian Art |journal=Bloomberg.com News |publisher=Bloomberg Finance L.P. |location=Moscow |date=2007-10-02 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aGlwT7.MHwzw |access-date=2008-06-21}}</ref><ref name="AuktionsverkHistory">{{citation|title=About the company |publisher=Stockholms Auktionsverk |location=Stockholm, Sweden |url=http://www.auktionsverket.se/historike.htm
|access-date=2008-06-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080522014917/http://www.auktionsverket.se/historike.htm |archive-date=May 22, 2008}}</ref> [[Sotheby's]], currently the world's second-largest auction house,<ref name="Auktionsverk" /> was founded in [[London]] on 11 March 1744, when Samuel Baker presided over the disposal of "several hundred scarce and valuable" books from the library of an acquaintance. [[Christie's]], now the world's largest auction house,<ref name="Auktionsverk" /> was founded by [[James Christie (auctioneer)|James Christie]] in 1766 in London<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.christies.com/features/welcome/|website=Christies.com|title=About Us|quote=James Christie conducted the first sale in London on 5 December 1766. |access-date=3 December 2008}}</ref> and published its first auction catalog that year, although newspaper advertisements of Christie's sales dating from 1759 have been found.<ref>[[Daily Gazetteer|Gazetteer and London Daily Advertiser]] (London, England), Saturday, 25 September 1762; Issue 10460</ref>

Other early auction houses that are still in operation include [[Göteborgs Auktionsverk]] (1681), [[Dorotheum]] (1707), [[Uppsala auktionskammare]] (1731), Mallams (1788), [[Bonhams]] (1793), [[Phillips de Pury & Company]] (1796), [[Freeman's]] (1805) and [[Lyon & Turnbull]] (1826).<ref name="Stoica">{{citation|last1=Stoica|first1=Michael|title=The Business of Art|date=August 2007|url=http://www.washburn.edu/mabee/crc/courses/auctionhouses.html|access-date=2008-06-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080607055425/http://www.washburn.edu/mabee/crc/courses/auctionhouses.html|archive-date=2008-06-07}}</ref>

By the end of the 18th century, auctions of art works were commonly held in [[tavern]]s and [[coffeehouses]]. These auctions were held daily, and [[auction catalog]]s were printed to announce available items. In some cases, these catalogs were elaborate works of art themselves, containing considerable detail about the items being auctioned. At the time, Christie's established a reputation as a leading auction house, taking advantage of London's status as the major centre of the international art trade after the [[French Revolution]]. [[The Great Slave Auction]] took place in 1859 and is recorded as the second largest single sale of [[Slavery in the United States|enslaved people]] in U.S. history — with 436 men, women and children being sold.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kwesi|first=DeGraft-Hanson|date=2010-01-01|title=Unearthing the Weeping Time: Savannah's Ten Broeck Race Course and 1859 Slave Sale|journal=Southern Spaces|volume=2010|doi=10.18737/M76K6J|issn=1551-2754|doi-access=free}}</ref> During the [[American Civil War]], goods seized by armies were sold at auction by the [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] of the division. Thus, some of today's auctioneers in the U.S. carry the unofficial title of "colonel".<ref name="Doyle" /> [[Tobacco]] auctioneers in the [[southern United States]] in the late 19th century had a style that mixed traditions of 17th century England with chants of [[Slavery in the United States|slaves]] from Africa.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/2019/04/28/visiting-our-past-brightleaf-tobacco-intoxication-1880-s/3551886002/|title=Visiting Our Past: Brightleaf tobacco intoxication the 1880s|last1=Neufeld|first1=Rob|work=[[Asheville Citizen-Times]]|date=2019-04-28|access-date=2019-04-28}}</ref>

===Rise of the internet===
The development of the internet has led to a significant rise in the use of auctions, as auctioneers can solicit bids [[Online auction|via the internet]] from a wide range of buyers in a much larger variety of commodities than was previously practical.<ref name="Economist99">{{citation |title=The Heyday of the Auction |date=1999-07-24 |newspaper=The Economist |volume=352 |issue=8129 |pages=67–68 |issn=0013-0613}}
</ref> 
In the 1990s, the [[multi-attribute auction]] was invented to negotiate extensive conditions of construction and electricity contracts via auction.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Huijun |first1=Feng |title=The Application of Multi-objective Optimization to Bid Decision |journal=Systems Engineering --- Theory & Practice |date=1994 |volume=1994-12 |url=http://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTOTAL-XTLL412.006.htm}}</ref><ref name=multiatt>{{cite journal |last1=Cameron |first1=Lisa J. |last2=Cramton |first2=Peter |last3=Wilson |first3=Robert |title=Using auctions to divest generation assets |journal=The Electricity Journal |date=December 1997 |volume=10 |issue=10 |pages=22–31 |doi=10.1016/S1040-6190(97)80317-X|bibcode=1997ElecJ..10j..22C |hdl=1903/7076 |url=http://www.cramton.umd.edu/papers1995-1999/97elec-using-auctions-to-divest-generation-assets.pdf |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Also during this time, OnSale.com developed the [[Yankee auction]] as its trademark.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hultmark |first1=Christina |last2=Ramberg |first2=Christina |last3=Kuner |first3=Christopher |title=Internet Marketplaces: The Law of Auctions and Exchanges Online |date=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-925429-3 |page=40 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XlNoeBNcZ80C&pg=PA41 |language=en}}</ref> In the early 2000s, the [[Brazilian auction]] was invented as a new type of auction to trade gas through [[Online auction|electronic auctions]] for [[Linde plc]] in [[Brazil]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Enterprise Sourcing Cockpit 4.5: Höhere Benutzerfreundlichkeit und neue Auktionsform |url=https://www.portalderwirtschaft.de/pressemitteilung/16951/enterprise-sourcing-cockpit-4-5-hoehere-benutzerfreundlichkeit-und-neue-auktionsform.html |website=PortalDerWirtschaft.de |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Bernhard |first1=Andreas |title=Elektronische Auktionen und Ausschreibungen bei Linde Gas – Die Spieltheorie im E-Sourcing |url=https://www.chemietechnik.de/wp-content/uploads/migrated/docs/artikel/2042.pdf |website=chemietechnik.de |access-date=29 January 2020 |archive-date=29 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129202542/https://www.chemietechnik.de/wp-content/uploads/migrated/docs/artikel/2042.pdf }}</ref>
With the emergence of the internet, [[online auction]]s have developed, with [[eBay]] being the most typical example. For example, if someone owns a rare item, they can display the item through an online auction platform. Interested parties may place bids, with the highest bidder winning the opportunity to purchase the item. Online auctions allow more people to participate and also make traditional auction theory more complex.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vragov |first1=Roumen |title=Why is eBay the King of Internet Auctions? An Institutional Analysis Perspective |journal=E-Service Journal |date=2004 |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=5–28 |doi=10.2979/esj.2004.3.3.5 |s2cid=62190885}}</ref>