ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses in detail some major open and sealed bid auction formats for both single unit as well as multiple unit auctions. It also discusses the strategic equivalence between certain auction formats and the single object auctions in detail, considering the various contingencies regarding the valuations of bidders. The chapter analyses the second price sealed bid auction and discusses the first price sealed bid auction. It describes that the expected revenues generated to the seller by a first price sealed bid auction and a second price sealed bid auction are exactly equal. The multi-unit English auction is very similar to its single unit counterpart. In case of sale of multiple objects, one important consideration is that relating to synergy. When the valuation derived from having a number of objects together exceeds the sum of the individual valuations for the respective objects, positive synergy is said to be present.
