An English auction is an open-outcry ascending dynamic auction. It proceeds as follows. * The auctioneer opens the auction by announcing a suggested opening bid, a starting price or reserve for the item on sale. * Then the auctioneer accepts increasingly higher bids from the floor and sometimes from other sources, for example online or telephone bids, consisting of buyers with an interest in the item. The auctioneer usually determines the minimum increment of bids, often making them larger as bidding reaches higher levels. * The highest bidder at any given moment is considered to have the standing bid, which can only be displaced by a higher bid from a competing buyer. * If no competing bidder challenges the standing bid within the time allowed by the auctioneer, the standing bid becom