Auction Bidding Strategist
Apply the complete game-theoretic auction framework to determine the optimal bid in any auction format. Use this skill when a user is preparing to bid in an English (ascending) auction, a Japanese auction, a Vickrey (second-price sealed-bid) auction, a Dutch (descending-clock) auction, or a standard sealed-bid first-price auction, and wants the game-theoretically correct strategy rather than guesswork. Triggers include: user is deciding how much to bid in a competitive tender, procurement auction, real estate auction, eBay auction, spectrum license auction, or corporate acquisition; user is worried about overbidding and wants to know how to set a ceiling; user suspects they may be falling into the winner's curse — winning but regretting the price paid; user must classify whether the auction involves private values (each bidder's value is independent) or common values (the item has a single underlying value that all bidders are estimating), because the correct strategy differs sharply between the two; user is evaluating whether to participate in a dollar auction, bidding war, or war-of-attrition-style competitive spending contest and wants to know when to stop or avoid; user needs to shade a bid below their true value in a sealed-bid first-price format and wants the formula; user is designing an auction and wants to know which format will yield more seller revenue; user is bidding in multiple simultaneous auctions and needs to think across the games. This skill does NOT cover multi-round negotiation without a defined auction structure (use a negotiation skill instead), combinatorial auctions with complex package bids, or procurement auctions requiring cost estimation.
