There are several variations on the basic auction form， including time limits， minimum or maximum limits on bid prices， and special rules for determining the winning bidder（s） and sale price（s）。 Participants in an auction may or may not know the identities or actions of other participants. Depending on the auction， bidders may participate in person or remotely through a variety of means， including telephone and the internet. The seller usually pays a commission to the auctioneer or auction company based on a percentage of the final sale price.

　　拍賣在基本形式之上存在著某些不同，包括限時(shí)、最低或最高競(jìng)投價(jià)格、以及用于決定競(jìng)價(jià)勝出者和成交價(jià)格的特別規(guī)則。參與拍賣的人不一定知道其他參與者的身份或者行為。根據(jù)拍賣形式的不同，競(jìng)投者可能會(huì)親自出席，或者運(yùn)用各種遠(yuǎn)程手段——例如電話和因特網(wǎng)——參與拍賣會(huì)。賣家一般會(huì)根據(jù)最終成交價(jià)格的一定比例付給拍賣商或拍賣公司傭金。

　　Primary types of auction 拍賣的主要種類

　　English auction 英式拍賣

　　English auction， also known as an open ascending price auction. This type of auction is arguably the most common form of auction in use today. Participants bid openly against one another， with each subsequent bid higher than the previous bid. An auctioneer may announce prices， bidders may call out their bids themselves （or have a proxy call out a bid on their behalf）， or bids may be submitted electronically with the highest current bid publicly displayed. In some cases a maximum bid might be left with the auctioneer， who may bid on behalf of the bidder according to the bidder's instructions. The auction ends when no participant is willing to bid further， at which point the highest bidder pays their bid. Alternatively， if the seller has set a minimum sale price in advance （the 'reserve' price） and the final bid does not reach that price the item remains unsold. Sometimes the auctioneer sets a minimum amount by which the next bid must exceed the current highest bid.

　　英式拍賣，也稱為公開增價(jià)拍賣。據(jù)稱這種拍賣形式是當(dāng)今最常見(jiàn)的拍賣方式。買家公開相互競(jìng)價(jià)，每次競(jìng)價(jià)都要比前一次的競(jìng)價(jià)更高。可以由拍賣師宣報(bào)價(jià)格，也可以由買家自己報(bào)價(jià)（或者請(qǐng)一位代理人代表買家報(bào)價(jià)）。當(dāng)沒(méi)有人愿意繼續(xù)競(jìng)價(jià)時(shí)拍賣結(jié)束，出價(jià)最高者需支付所報(bào)出的價(jià)格?；蛘撸绻u家已經(jīng)提前設(shè)定了最低售價(jià)（“保留價(jià)”），而最終的競(jìng)價(jià)沒(méi)有達(dá)到這個(gè)價(jià)格，拍賣品則不出售。有時(shí)候拍賣師會(huì)限定最低報(bào)價(jià)增幅，從而使下一次競(jìng)價(jià)必須高于當(dāng)前的最高價(jià)格。

　　The most significant distinguishing factor of this auction type is that the current highest bid is always available to potential bidders. The English auction is commonly used for selling goods， most prominently antiques and artwork， but also secondhand goods and real estate. At least two bidders are required.

　　這種拍賣方式最顯著的特點(diǎn)在于，當(dāng)前最高競(jìng)價(jià)始終對(duì)潛在的買家公開。英式拍賣目前廣泛用于商品出售，主要是古董和藝術(shù)品拍賣，也用于二手商品和房地產(chǎn)拍賣。這種拍賣需要至少兩個(gè)買家的參與。

　　Dutch auction 荷蘭式拍賣

　　Dutch auction also known as an open descending price auction. In the traditional Dutch auction the auctioneer begins with a high asking price which is lowered until some participant is willing to accept the auctioneer's price. The winning participant pays the last announced price.

　　荷蘭式拍賣，也稱為公開降價(jià)拍賣。在傳統(tǒng)的荷蘭式拍賣中，拍賣師以相對(duì)較高的價(jià)格起拍，然后逐步降低，直至有人愿意接受拍賣師開出的價(jià)格。勝出者需要支付最后一次宣布的價(jià)格。

　　The Dutch auction is named for its best known example， the Dutch tulip auctions. （“Dutch auction” is also sometimes used to describe online auctions where several identical goods are sold simultaneously to an equal number of high bidders.） In addition to cut flower sales in the Netherlands， Dutch auctions have also been used for perishable commodities such as fish and tobacco. In practice， however， the Dutch auction is not widely used.

　　荷蘭式拍賣是因其最出名的一個(gè)案例——荷蘭郁金香拍賣——而得名。（“荷蘭式拍賣”有時(shí)也指網(wǎng)上拍賣，這種網(wǎng)拍形式同時(shí)為數(shù)量相等的高競(jìng)價(jià)買家提供數(shù)件相同的物品。）荷蘭式拍賣不僅被用于荷蘭的鮮切花交易，還被用于出售某些易腐爛的商品，例如魚和煙草。然而在實(shí)際中，荷蘭式拍賣并未被廣泛應(yīng)用。

　　Sealed first-price auction 首價(jià)密封拍賣

　　Sealed first-price auction， also known as a first-price sealed-bid auction （FPSB）。 In this type of auction all bidders simultaneously submit sealed bids so that no bidder knows the bid of any other participant. The highest bidder pays the price they submitted.

　　首價(jià)密封拍賣也叫首價(jià)密封投標(biāo)拍賣。根據(jù)這種拍賣方式的要求，所有買家須同時(shí)提交密封好的報(bào)價(jià)，因而沒(méi)有人知道其他競(jìng)買者的報(bào)價(jià)。出價(jià)最高者支付其報(bào)出的價(jià)格。

　　This type of auction is distinct from the English auction， in that bidders can only submit one bid each. Furthermore， as bidders cannot see the bids of other participants they cannot adjust their own bids accordingly. Sealed first-price auctions are commonly used in tendering， particularly for government contracts and auctions for mining leases.

　　這種拍賣方式與英式拍賣的不同在于，每個(gè)買家只能出一次價(jià)。不僅如此，由于買家無(wú)法得知其他競(jìng)買人的報(bào)價(jià)，他們也無(wú)法相應(yīng)地調(diào)整自己的報(bào)價(jià)。首價(jià)密封方式常用于投標(biāo)，尤其是在政府項(xiàng)目和礦產(chǎn)租賃權(quán)拍賣中。

　　Vickrey auction 維克瑞拍賣

　　Vickrey auction， also known as a sealed-bid second-price auction. This is identical to the sealed first-price auction except that the winning bidder pays the second highest bid rather than their own. This is very similar to the proxy bidding system used by eBay， where the winner pays the second highest bid plus a bidding increment （e.g.， 10%）。

　　維克瑞拍賣，也稱為第二價(jià)格密封拍賣。這種拍賣方式與首價(jià)密封拍賣基本相同，區(qū)別僅在于勝出者需要支付的價(jià)格是第二高的報(bào)價(jià)，而不是他自己的報(bào)價(jià)。這與易趣網(wǎng)所使用的代理人競(jìng)價(jià)系統(tǒng)相似，在這個(gè)系統(tǒng)中，勝出者需要支付第二高的報(bào)價(jià)，再加上一個(gè)報(bào)價(jià)的增額（如10%）。

　　Although extremely important in auction theory， in practice Vickrey auctions are rarely used.

　　盡管這種方式在拍賣理論中占據(jù)重要地位，但在實(shí)際中，維克瑞拍賣方式卻很少被使用。