A Historic Framework of Auctioning

David Buckingham

301102580

            In modern society auctioning has become a convenient and practical way to purchase items. The vast majority of auctions take place online and are done in a very impersonal fashion. However, this was not the case up to 40 years ago before the first online auction had taken place and before the internet became prevalent. In our post-Industrial society many people often forget about and take for granted the rapid changes that have occurred to technologies used in our everyday lives. Many of these technologies have advanced from primitive forms to the necessary tools of our modern society.

            Auctioning has been very influential throughout history. Auctions have “been recorded as early as 500 B.C.” (Wikipedia, 2009). During the Roman Empire, one of the largest empires in history, basic auctions were frequently held to “liquidate property and estate goods” (R. Cassidy, 1967).  The money gained from these auctions funded the creation of many monuments and temples not only across the Roman Empire but also in other countries such as China where “it became customary to auction off the property of deceased monks” (R. Cassidy, 1967) for the same purpose. One of the creations funded by auctions includes the Roman Coliseum which influenced the moral of a whole civilization by providing entertainment to thousands and which has been admired since its completion. It has been “estimated that about 500,000 people and over a million wild animals died in the Coliseum games” (Wikipedia, 2009) which shows that the coliseum had a huge impact on hundreds of thousands of individual lives. Entertainment was not the only influence that these creations provided. The majority of auction funded marvels were religious based and influenced millions. Religion is irrefutably the most influential part of society and the monuments built, which were funded by auctions, have influenced people for thousands of years and continue to do so.

            Although auctioning had been used to provide the world with many wonders it also had many dreadful uses. Auctioning became a popular use for slavery transactions. The majority of slave auctions took place in Africa during the Industrial era, in which different methods of auctioning were created to quicken the transaction of slaves. During this Industrial period auctioning advanced by the formation of varies new methods in which auctions were held. These transformations were brought about by the desire for better efficiency and convenience. One method which became popular was the horrific “Grab and Go” auctioning method in which “buyers would rush in to the holding cell and grab the slave or slaves that they wanted” (Historyonthenet, 2007). They then proceeded to pay for their newly acquired slave. Although auctioning did not cause slavery it greatly assisted the sale of slaves by providing an efficient method to traffic humans. Auctioning allowed for mass sales and opened the market up to numerous people at once. “Between 1790 and 1860 approximately 835,000 slaves moved from the exporting areas to the importing areas of the United States South.” (L.C. Gray, 2001). These numbers are highly vague due to the fact that many transactions were not recorded which would increase the accurate number of sales greatly from the approximate number. The slave trade effected society in many ways. One of which was by providing the workforce necessary to populate factories and fuel the industrial revolution. The slave trade also had many negative effects on society by causing wide spread suffering and which helped to encourage racism. All of these effects were directly connected to auctioning which provided the means to efficiently and effectively sell slaves.

            Just as our society’s views on race and slavery have changed so has auctioning. Auctioning has adapted with the advances in technology to be used online. This new form of auctioning brought about the very popular eBay trend which caused a drastic shift of stores to become a part of the online market. This shift to digitalize businesses revolutionized the marketplace by allowing access to goods from the comfort of your own home without any personal interaction. Our post-industrial society strives for convenience and efficiency which are both key components of online auctioning. Society as a whole has been affected by being provided with a globalized marketplace brought about mainly by online auctioning. In our consumer society individuals have also been affected greatly by online auctioning. The digital marketplace has grown in popularity greatly since online auctioning occurred and can be accessed from anywhere. This has made the lives of millions of consumers more convenient.

            There has been a time period of over two thousand years for auctioning to advance. It has gone from being a very primitive tool only used remotely by minorities to being a highly advanced and innovative technology. Auctioning is now offered conveniently to everyone at any time. Auctioning has allowed for the creation of many great wonders of the world and has also effectively provided a way to profit off the suffering of millions throughout history. Even though auctioning for the most part is taken for granted, it has been one the most directly and indirectly influential technologies of all time. Many events and objects brought about by it will not soon be forgotten.

Reference List:

Auction. (2009). Wikipedia. Retrieved March 17, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auction

Beam, C. & Segev, A. (1998) Auctions on the Internet: A Field Study. Working paper. Retrieved February 9, 2009 from Google Scholar Database.

Black People of America: The Slave Auction. Home page. Retrieved March 17, 2009, from History on the Net Web site http://www.historyonthenet.com/Slave_Trade/slave_auction.htm

Colosseum. (2009). Wikipedia. Retrieved March 17, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colosseum

R. Cassidy. (1967). Auctions and Auctioneering. [Electronic Version] University of California Press.

I am currently studying at Simon Fraser University to become an engineer.

To take a break from school I snowboard on grouse mountain.

When its not snowing I play speedball. I placed 3rd in Brawl for It All.

I also waste most of my time and money on my girlfriend or on my car which always breaks down.

My favorite technology is skype. I do not use the program as much as I use other technologies such as my cell phone but I find skype ingenious. When it was first created you could call anywhere in the world for free, now they charge for overseas calls. This program has made my life easier in many ways. Skype has allowed for me to communicate with my Grandparents who live in a different country, talk with my friends all over the world that I play videogames with. Skype is extremely easy to use and has many interesting additions like video calling. Skype is also extremely useful for prank calls because no caller identification is displayed. However I have never tried this before.