Instead of a 'normal' auction, I am going to try the auction "Vickery" style. I think this style of auction has a clear benefit to sellers, and doesn't encourage last minute bidding. What is a Vickery auction? It is a sealed bid auction. The high bidder wins the auction, but at the second highest bid price! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickrey_auction) Thinking about designing a site around this, want to get thoughts on the idea.
Rules:
* Post a hash of your bid, not the bid yourself. Bidding ends Monday, April 9 11:59pm ET.
* you can use: http://www.webutils.pl/index.php?idx=sha1 or http://www.xorbin.com/tools/sha256-hash-calculator . Not sure if they log hashes, use your own if worried.
* Starting Tuesday, April 10 ET, Bids are closed and everyone can reveal their bids. Just post the text that gave the hash. Reveal ends April 10 at 11:59pm ET
* On Wednesday, April 11 GMT, Reveals are closed, and a winner will be chosen. Please reveal before the auction end.
* Highest bidder WINS the mug at the second highest bid price. I will pay shipping to any USA address.
* Only 1 bid per username. Last bid is the only one that counts, you must reveal this bid.
Example:
You Post while bidding is going on:
77e9e52f7e7213078bceb1f85847658fa899110fd6a0fd9757cc33c2b236442c (sha256)
April 10th, reveal your bid (bidding closed):
"TTBit bids 1.2345 bitcoins for the coffee mug. Hope I win!!!!"
(http://www.webutils.pl/index.php?idx=sha1&mode=sha256&enc=ENCODE&data=TTBit+bids+1.2345+bitcoins+for+the+coffee+mug.+Hope+I+win%21%21%21%21)
If 1.2345 was the highest bid, and the second highest bid was 0.8453 btc, you win the mug for 0.8453 bitcoins!
If you can't reproduce the hash, your bid is invalid. I'm not a crypto pro, so keep it easy please.
Strategy:
* Bid only as much as you are willing to pay! Bidding 100btc thinking you'll take it when the next highest bid is 2.422 only works if you are the only one with this strategy.
