What is "dutch auction"

Auction \Auc"tion\, n. [L. auctio an increasing, a public sale, where the price was called out, and the article to be sold was adjudged to the last increaser of the price, or the highest bidder, fr. L. augere, auctum, to increase. See Augment.]

1. A public sale of property to the highest bidder, esp. by a person licensed and authorized for the purpose; a vendue.

2. The things sold by auction or put up to auction.

   Ask you why Phryne the whole auction buys ?
   --Pope.

   Note: In the United States, the more prevalent expression has been ``sales at auction,'' that is, by an increase of bids (Lat. auctione). This latter form is preferable.

   Dutch auction, the public offer of property at a price beyond its value, then gradually lowering the price, till some one accepts it as purchaser.
   --P. Cyc.

Dutch \Dutch\, a. [D. duitsch German; or G. deutsch, orig., popular, national, OD. dietsc, MHG. diutsch, tiutsch, OHG. diutisk, fr. diot, diota, a people, a nation; akin to AS. pe['o]d, OS. thiod, thioda, Goth. piuda; cf. Lith. tauta land, OIr. tuath people, Oscan touto. The English have applied the name especially to the Germanic people living nearest them, the Hollanders. Cf. Derrick, Teutonic.] Pertaining to Holland, or to its inhabitants.

Dutch auction. See under Auction.

Dutch cheese, a small, pound, hard cheese, made from skim milk.

Dutch clinker, a kind of brick made in Holland. It is yellowish, very hard, and long and narrow in shape.

Dutch clover (Bot.), common white clover ( Trifolium repens), the seed of which was largely imported into England from Holland.

Dutch concert, a so-called concert in which all the singers sing at the same time different songs. [Slang]

Dutch courage, the courage of partial intoxication. [Slang]
--Marryat.

Dutch door, a door divided into two parts, horizontally, so arranged that the lower part can be shut and fastened, while the upper part remains open.

Dutch foil, Dutch leaf, or Dutch gold, a kind of brass rich in copper, rolled or beaten into thin sheets, used in Holland to ornament toys and paper; -- called also Dutch mineral, Dutch metal, brass foil, and bronze leaf.

Dutch liquid (Chem.), a thin, colorless, volatile liquid, C2H4Cl2, of a sweetish taste and a pleasant ethereal odor, produced by the union of chlorine and ethylene or olefiant gas; -- called also Dutch oil. It is so called because discovered (in 1795) by an association of four Hollandish chemists. See Ethylene, and Olefiant.

Dutch oven, a tin screen for baking before an open fire or kitchen range; also, in the United States, a shallow iron kettle for baking, with a cover to hold burning coals.

Dutch pink, chalk, or whiting dyed yellow, and used in distemper, and for paper staining. etc.
--Weale.

Dutch rush (Bot.), a species of horsetail rush or Equisetum ( Equisetum hyemale) having a rough, siliceous surface, and used for scouring and polishing; -- called also scouring rush, and shave grass. See Equisetum.

Dutch tile, a glazed and painted ornamental tile, formerly much exported, and used in the jambs of chimneys and the like.

Note: Dutch was formerly used for German.

Germany is slandered to have sent none to this war [the Crusades] at this first voyage; and that other pilgrims, passing through that country, were mocked by the Dutch, and called fools for their pains.
--Fuller.

n. a method of selling in which the price is reduced until a buyer is found

A Dutch auction is a type of auction in which the auctioneer begins with a high asking price which is lowered until some participant is willing to accept the auctioneer's price, or a predetermined reserve price (the seller's minimum acceptable price) is reached. The winning participant pays the last announced price. This is also known as a clock auction or an open-outcry descending-price auction.

This type of auction is convenient when it is important to auction goods quickly, since a sale never requires more than one bid. The Dutch auction guarantees that the best possible price is obtained, in contrast to a traditional auction where the winning bidder may have been prepared to bid considerably more.