Dutch auction
1
7.7
- noun
- /dʌtʃ ˈɔːkʃən/
- Specialized
:
subasta holandesa
- The company decided to sell their rare antique furniture through a Dutch auction, lowering the price until a buyer was found.
Examples
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The reason Google used the Dutch auction system for their IPO is that they had the heft to do so; it is a system that only works for the largest and best-known IPOs.
Blog text (19) -
But you're right that FB is one of those rare issues that has enough of everything to do it the Dutch auction way.
Blog text (19) -
A Dutch Dutch auction is essentially a reverse auction.
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Now I see why Google did a Dutch auction IPO, as it eliminated much of the conflict of interest and quickly established a market price for their shares.
Blog text (19) -
I guess the "answer" is that the underwriting/syndicate is a service... maybe they can get the company a higher price (maybe not)... ironically, I think that if FB was done with a Dutch auction, the price could have been even higher, and the buyers could have gotten screwed even more...
Blog text (19) -
At the art fair, the organizers used a Dutch auction format to sell paintings, starting at a high price and gradually decreasing it.
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During the charity event, they held a Dutch auction where attendees could bid down the price of donated items until someone accepted.
Synonyms
512
2.8
A public sale where people bid and the highest bidder buys the item
1
3.2
A public sale where items go to the person who offers the most money
Surface Forms
Morphology
A B1 learner who knows 'Dutch' and 'auction' can infer that this is a particular type of auction, so the noun phrase is partially transparent. However, the crucial procedural detail (prices are lowered until a buyer accepts) is not derivable from the demonym 'Dutch' and would not be predictable without prior exposure, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Dutch auction may come from old flower markets in the Netherlands, where sellers began with a high price and slowly lowered it until someone said 'yes'. That image of a price falling until a buyer accepts explains why Dutch auction means 'a sale where the price is lowered until a buyer agrees'.