the.com/auctions
a room full of strangers competing to overpay in public, with rules.
means a sale where price is set live by competing bids instead of a fixed tag.
from from latin auctio, meaning to increase — the romans literally auctioned off war spoils under a spear stuck in the ground, marking the lot as sold.
fastest wordauctioneer chant hits 250+ words per minute
silence trickin dutch auctions the price only falls, never rises
phantom biddersome houses admit fake bids to nudge reserve prices
winner's curseeconomists proved winning often means you overpaid
for instance
sotheby's — founded 1744, sold a da vinci for $450m in 2017
christie's — auctioned the last supper tapestry and rare wines since 1766
ebay — turned garage-sale bidding into a 130m-user global marketplace
nfl draft — teams bid with picks, not cash, for future stars