Combinatorial auction

A combinatorial auction is a type of smart market in which participants can place bids on combinations of discrete items, or “packages”, rather than individual items or continuous quantities. A combinatorial auction is a type of smart market in which participants can place bids on combinations of discrete items, or “packages”, rather than individual items or continuous quantities. Simple combinatorial auctions have been used for many years in estate auctions, where a common procedure is to accept bids for packages of items. They have been used recently for truckload transportation, bus routes, industrial procurement, and in the allocation of radio spectrum for wireless communications. In recent years, procurement teams have applied reverse combinatorial auctions in the procurement of goods and services. This application is often referred to as Sourcing Optimization.