I decided to combine two activities that frequently occupy my day: study of auctions for my research, and perusal of the Nashville Codes for entertainment. The section of Nashville law on auctions and auctioneers (Chapter 6.84) defines an auction as:
The offering for sale or selling of such property by the method known as “down hill selling” by which is meant first offering any article at a higher price and then offering the same at successive lower prices until a bidder is secured.
So, the elegant Dutch Auction is legally permitted. I wonder who determined that this method is “known as down hill selling.” The Dutch have yet to discover a single elevation change in Holland that can in any way be construed a “hill.”
The definition continues:
“Selling at auction” also means the offering for sale or selling of such property to the highest bidder.
And there you have the exhaustive list of market mechanisms that the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County considers an auction.
Preferential auctions, where I might care about who wins? Procurement auctions, where the lowest bidder should be selected? Take that crazy stuff out of state!