One version of a first-price auction is used to sell cut flowers in bulk, in a “descending bid” auction. The auctioneer sets up a “clock” that has the current bid on it, starting with a very high bid and quickly descending, until some bidder stops the clock by offering the price it currently shows, which is higher than any of the other bidders have offered to pay, as they haven’t already stopped the clock. Since the first bid stops the clock, these auctions can be very fast—a good thing, since time is of the essence when you’re buying cut flowers. A big international marketplace operates this
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