Two ending rules, a soft close and a hard close, exist in Internet auctions. The hard close auction involves a fixed deadline, while the deadline in the soft close auction may be extended if at least one bid is submitted in the final few minutes. Thus, the soft close allows buyers to submit...

Two ending rules, a soft close and a hard close, exist in Internet auctions. In hard close auctions, each auction ends with a fixed deadline determined by a seller. In soft close auctions, the end time automatically extends if at least one bid is submitted in the last few minutes, so each buyer...