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The Dutch are a frugal people. Americans would call them “tightwads”. The concept of paying more for something than another person is very hard to swallow for a Dutch person so the traditional “bidding up” auction system presented a major cultural hurdle.
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The canal runs down the middle of the auction house, between the auctioneer and the bidders. The gangway plank crosses the canal.
And thus was born the Dutch auction. In a Dutch auction, a product is offered at a high price; then the price is incrementally lowered until a Dutch person, finding it a suitable bargain far below the initial offering price, announces his/her willingness to pay. The result is the same as a conventional auction without the psychic damage of “paying more than Hans”.
This is the format used for decades at the Langedijk Vegetable Auction House. We participated in a re-enacted auction for visitors in which we bought apples (a deal), kiwi fruit (trader of the day award) and 4 bushels of onions (waayyy overpaid). The onions were proof that a Dutch auction doesn’t guarantee the bidder a bargain!