upset price

American  

noun

1. the lowest price at which a person is permitted to bid for something being sold at auction.

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upset price British  

/ ˈʌpˌsɛt /

noun

1. another name (esp Scot, US, and Canadian) for reserve price

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Etymology

Origin of upset price

First recorded in 1805–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

upset price

Lands not sold at auction may afterwards be purchased at the upset price on payment of the whole purchase money.

From The Cape and the Kaffirs A Diary of Five Years' Residence in Kaffirland by Ward, Harriet

The upset price of Government wild land in Canada varies from 7_s_.

From Letters and Journals of James, Eighth Earl of Elgin by James, Eighth Earl of Elgin

The land sold, owing to its situation, was only valuable to those having other land near and so was all knocked down at the upset price though worth four times as much.

From The Workingman's Paradise An Australian Labour Novel by Miller, John Maurice

After some slight competition, the allotment, put up, I think, at the upset price of 300 pounds, was bought by Mr. Edmund Westby for 344 pounds.

From Personal Recollections of Early Melbourne and Victoria by Westgarth, William

The upset price of government land is twenty shillings per acre; thus, the inexperienced purchaser is very apt to be led away by the apparently low sum per acre into a purchase of great extent.

From Eight Years' Wanderings in Ceylon by Baker, Samuel White, Sir