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Shopping, Gambling or Shambling? Penny Auctions

Author
Robinson, Stacey G.; Giebelhausen, Michael D.; Cotte, June
Abstract
On penny auction websites, consumers participate in a game where the winner receives the opportunity to purchase a product for pennies on the dollar and discounts of over 90% are often advertised and recorded. Losers, on the other hand, may easily spend hundreds of dollars and walk away with nothing. For penny auction websites, profit margins over 300% on a single auction are not uncommon. Critics call penny auctions gambling. Proponents call penny auctions entertainment shopping. Either way, this emerging form of ecommerce represents a fascinating area for academic research.
Date Issued
2013-01-01Subject
gambling; entertainment shopping; penny auctions; e-commerce; retailing
Related DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2012.12.005Rights
Required Publisher Statement: © Elsevier. Final version published as: Robinson, S. G., Giebelhausen, M. D., & Cotte, J. (2013). Shopping, gambling or shambling? Penny auctions. Journal of Business Research, 6(9), 1612-1616. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
Type
article