History Main / AccidentalBid

-->-- '''Danny''', ''WebOriginal/GameGrumps'' ''VS'': TableTopGames/{{Monopoly}}

* ''Manga/HunterXHunter''. Gon's allies decide to teach him how auctions work -after- it starts. Gon 'bids' an insane amount of money. Fortunately they are outbid and escape the consequences of his foolishness.

* Was a staple device of childrens' comics like ''ComicBook/TheBeano'' back in the 1990s (and may still be).

* In Jeffrey Archer's ''As the Crow Flies'' Charlie Trumper starts making higher bids on the auctioneer property to force Mrs. Trentham to bid up to her total cash reserves. Once that happens, his wife Rebecca accidentally bids again. It works out as Mrs. Trentham also bids again and is eventually forced to sacrifice her bid deposit as she can't honor the hammer price. Charlie is able to buy the shop at a much cheaper price afterwards

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'', when Doug and Skeeter answer the questions of a rock band named The Beets at an attempt to win two tickets for the concert, they are stuck answering the last question: What is the name of the Beets album that showed a microscopic picture of Chap Lipman after his gallbadder surgery, which Doug inadvertently answered, "Beats Me", which is actually the name of the band's album (Beets Me is the pun), thus winning tickets to the concert for him and Skeeter.
* In a ''WesternAnimation/{{Hurricanes}}'' episode, Napper Thompson accidentaly made a winning bid for the McGuffin while knocking down a man who was really trying to buy it. Even worse: the man was representing the BigBad, Stavros Garkos. Later on, Garkos bought it from Napper, who never really wanted the McGuffin in the first place, in another auction, where one of Garkos' [[CoDragons thugs]] accidentally bought another item.

* Sandi Toksvig put the first bid on a horse she was acting as auctioneer for in order to start the bidding, only to recieve no subsequent bids.

-->'''Danny:''' Sold, for too much money, to the guy with not enough money!
--->-- ''WebOriginal/GameGrumps'' ''VS'': TableTopGames/{{Monopoly}}

* An ad for Mikado chocolate biscuit sticks has a man in the middle of an acution pulling a Mikado out of its box, and this being mistaken as a bid for a stuffed yak. It ends with him guiltily eating the biscuit while his wife glares at him.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Blondie}}'': Blondie and Dagwood were at least GenreSavvy enough to know and try to avoid this when they attended an auction... unfortunately, Dagwood [[HiccupHijinks developed a case of the hiccups.]]

* Used at least once in an ''ComicBook/{{Archie|Comics}}'' comic: Betty tries to tell Archie -- over traffic noise --how much money she's saved up and ends up accidentally getting the winning bid on a stuffed moose's head. Considering how often staple comedy devices are used in Franchise/ArchieComics, this is probably not the only example in existence.

* Used at least once in an ''ComicBook/{{Archie}} comic: Betty tries to tell Archie -- over traffic noise --how much money she's saved up and ends up accidentally getting the winning bid on a stuffed moose's head. Considering how often staple comedy devices are used in Franchise/ArchieComics, this is probably not the only example in existence.

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[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:{{Comics}}]]

* Donald accidentally bought an old boat in an auction in a CarlBarks story.
* Goofy accidentally bought a painting while trying to tell the hours to a deaf man.
** This has been a staple device of Disney comics ever since Carl Barks. Goofy and the ducks are especially prone to it.
* HagarTheHorrible, or actually, Lucky Eddie, did this once when he was waving to someone in an auction. To make the whole thing even more embarrassing, it was at a harem girls auction in the middle east.
* Used at least once in an {{Archie}} comic: Betty tries to tell Archie - over traffic noise - how much money she's saved up and ends up accidentally getting the winning bid on a stuffed moose's head. Considering how often staple comedy devices are used in ArchieComics, this is probably not the only example in existence.
* ''ComicStrip/{{Blondie}}'' and Dagwood were at least GenreSavvy enough to know and try to avoid this when they attended an auction... unfortunately, Dagwood [[HiccupHijinks developed a case of the hiccups.]]

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[[folder:LiveActionTV]]
* May have originated on ''TheDickVanDykeShow'', in an episode where the characters (who are TV show writers) make accidental bids while joking about writing a sketch where the character makes accidental bids.
* ''PerfectStrangers'' did this with a bottle of wine, by having Larry try to teach Balki the basics of how these auctions work and end up winning the wine... and then having Balki tickle some bidders into making Accidental Bids of their own to make a profit from the wine.
* ''SanfordAndSon'' had Fred perform outlandish gesticulations to prompt the other bidders to go higher--after seeing Lamont do it--and he ended up buying the very piece the two had put up for sale, at a ridiculous markup.

* In one episode of ''Mario Eats Italy''--Mario Batali's show on the Creator/FoodNetwork 2001-2003, in which he tours Italy with his idiot assistant Rooney--they go to a seafood auction at some seaport town; it's run as a reverse auction, with a continuously-descending price for each lot of fish (or whatever) displayed, and the first to press the button gets the lot at the displayed price. Rooney leans on a button accidentally, landing Batali and Rooney with a tray of seafood for which they have paid far too much, and they wander the streets of town looking for someplace to cook it before it spoils.

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[[folder:RealLife]]

* Was a staple device of childrens' comics like ''TheBeano'' back in the 1990s (and may still be).

* Happens to PorkyPig in the 1939 short "Porky And Teabiscuit." He answers a codger's question about what time it is, almost 11:00. The codger asks again and Porky intones "11" even louder. A fair's auctioneer mistakes it as Porky's bid and takes the $11 Porky made at the fair as payment for what turns out to be a broken down nag.

* ''HunterXHunter''. Gon's allies decide to teach him how auctions work -after- it starts. Gon 'bids' an insane amount of money. Fortunately they are outbid and escape the consequences of his foolishness.

Because of innocent or unrelated behavior during a silent auction, a character finds he has unintentionally bid an outlandish price on -- and won -- some expensive item. The accidental bidder will usually accept the purchase because he's too embarrassed to explain that it was a misunderstanding. If he ''does'' try to explain that it was a misunderstanding, the auctioneer won't care anyway, and he'll force the bidder to accept the purchase, if neccesarily by use of violence.

* Goofy accidentally bought a painting while tyring to tell the hours to a deaf man.

* Something like this happens on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Bart wins an auction, and the auctioneer announces that he has win the item in question -- at which he point he sniggers and runs away. The auctioneer, mildly annoyed, announces that the item goes to the next-highest bid -- at which point a man in a suit sniggers and runs away in an identical fashion. The auctioneer ruefully inquires if [[OverlyLongGag ''anyone'' made a genuine bid]] -- the entire room sniggers and runs away.

* In ''MouseHunt'', Lars and Ernie Smuntz inherited their father's house and tried to sell it in an auction. While they were chasing a mouse, Ernie accidentally made a bid but quickly undid the misunderstanding.

* ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'', episode "The Auction".

* In an episode of ''Series/{{Psych}}'', Gus sniffs around people at an auction, looking for a certain perfume that Shawn deduced the murderer was wearing. The auctioneer thinks Gus is bidding, so Gus ends up bidding on and winning... an old and quite large Confederate flag. [[CrossedTheLineTwice Gus is black.]]

* In ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'', Buster accidentally bids on his mother's best friend and chief social rival, whom he was trying to avoid, when he was supposed to bid on his mother.

* In an episode of ''Series/{{Psych}}'', Gus sniffs around people at an auction, looking for a certain perfume that Shawn deduced the murderer was wearing. The auctioneer thinks Gus is bidding, so Gus ends up bidding on and winning... an old and quite large Confederate flag. Gus is black.