…Plus Shipping and Handling: Revenue (Non)Equivalence in Field Experiments on eBay
Hossain first author. Matched pairs of CDs and games were sold in a series of field experiments on an auction site. Contrary to theory, a high shipping charge with a low opening price drew more bidders and more revenue, but only when the shipping charge was not excessive. The authors account for this with boundedly rational bidding, including separate mental accounts for different parts of the price, or disregard of shipping costs.
Hossain first author. Matched pairs of CDs and games were sold in a series of field experiments on an auction site. Contrary to theory, a high shipping charge with a low opening price drew more bidders and more revenue, but only when the shipping charge was not excessive. The authors account for this with boundedly rational bidding, including separate mental accounts for different parts of the price, or disregard of shipping costs.
Written from the abstract read 2026-10-18.
What our sources record
Recorded when this source was checked, figures included, with page references and quotation marks removed.
The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 6(2). doi:10.2202/1538-0637.1429.