Using field experiments to test equivalence between auction formats: Magicon the Internet

William Vickrey's predicted equivalences between first-price sealed-bid and Dutch auctions, and between second-price sealed-bid and English auctions, are tested using field experiments that auctioned off collectible trading c ards over the Internet. The results indicate that the Dutch auction produce s 30-percent higher revenues than the first-price auction format, a violati on of the theoretical prediction and a reversal of previous laboratory resu lts, and that the English and second-price formats produce roughly equivale nt revenues. (JEL C93, D44).