Our charming auctioneer dressed in traditional Dutch garb

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.

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!

The vegetables float onto the auction house “floor” on a boat. Note the 4 bushels of VERY EXPENSIVE onions!