Why is dating like an auction you ask? Because it is all about supply, demand and getting the best price. For starters, the method that we select a partner is in an English or Dutch auction style. Which one we are depends if we wait for the perfect person to come along or if we go out with one person until someone better comes along.

English auction dating

In a standard English auction participants keep on bidding until one person is left with an unambiguously highest offer. In terms of dating, if you run an English auction you go out with many people, if not simultaneously then relatively closely bunched in time, and you stick with the one who offers the most.

Dutch auction dating

In a Dutch auction, which is used to sell tulips, the auctioneer starts out with a high price and keeps on lowering it until someone bites. The auction then ends. If you dating style is like a Dutch auction, you signal clearly your standards (lowering the standards over time if need be) and stick with the first person who bites. Christian women are more likely to run a Dutch auction and more women are likely to run Dutch auctions as they get older.

Demand

In an English Auction, more people bidding on an item means that it must be better if more people want it and the higher the price goes. This is similar to dating. If more people want to be your partner:

• You are seen as popular
• You are seen more positively
• People know that if they don't act, they will not have a chance.

If no-one bids on an item or if no-one is your partner at the moment, people ask why.