History Main / WhammyBid

** One youtuber estimated the value of a single bar of latinum at $2,000...which would mean, Q bid two BILLION dollars. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SSnwRshpDc

An {{Auction}} is happening, people are bidding in sensible increments and then, all of a sudden, someone puts in such a high bid that no one would dare bid against them. This can be an escalation of a bidding war or a total newcomer. The correct name for this kind of tactic is a Jump Bid and it can be very effective, or it can land you paying far more than you needed to. Used primarily for dramatic effect, either to highlight the value of the item (particularly if it was previously considered of low value or it has a secret use) or to dramatically introduce a character to a scene. Nothing says "I am rich and powerful, look this way" like doubling the bid for a teapot when the last bidder had just got to £900,000. Also very common in BachelorAuction setups. A similar setup can occur in gambling, where a gambler tries to scare off the other gamblers with a huge wager. (Often called 'buying the pot' in this case.)

Depending on the format of the auction this may or may not be possible in RealLife. Some auctions may limit the margin by which a new bid can surpass the previous high. It also depends on the mechanics of the auction itself. The English auction, where the highest bidder pays the amount they bid, allows this. A Vickery auction, by contrast, would not as the one who wins the auction by bidding the highest only has to pay an amount equal to the second-highest bid.

* ''Series/AllCreaturesGreatAndSmall'': In the episode "The Pig Man Cometh" James engages in a series of whammy bids for a house. Played with in that he knows he cannot afford to pay out, but he is trying to run up the bids for the benefit of the widow who is moving out, and he knows that the other buyer is a noted bad tempered old miser who has intimidated most of the other locals into not bidding themselves. It's played slightly differently in the book, in that at first he honestly wants the house, then keeps raising the bar as he keeps telling himself he can stretch out the mortgage, but said the other guy keeps upping him; likewise, in the end, he gives up, but still gets the widow's thanks since he managed to get her far more money than she initially was hoping for.

* Inverted in ''SoulKitchen''. After the underdog hero's limit of €200,000 has been easily matched by the evil property developer, a break in his concentration allows the hero to win with a ridiculously low increment of €15.

** In one episode, an artifact of power once belonging to Morgan Le Fay is mixed in with an antiquities auction. Jason Blood, the human host of the demon ComicBook/{{Etrigan}}, and ComicBook/KlarionTheWitchBoy ([[InsistentTerminology dum, dum, dum]]) have a brief bidding war ending in the low six figures when Blood is forced to concede defeat. Bruce Wayne, who knows Blood, wins it for him with a sudden "One... million."

* Happens in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''
** In one episode Homer left Bart and Lisa to keep his spot at a DMV line. In retaliation, when it'd be his turn to be served, Bart and Lisa auctioned it. After several people made bids, Fat Tony offered a lollipop for it. Being a mafia boss, his offer was quickly accepted.

** Another episode featured Bart and Homer trying to find a very rare penny for their coin collection. They find one at an auction, but are up against Mr. Burns.

* This is in fact the entire point and plot of the ''VideoGame/{{Oddworld}}'' game ''Munch's Oddysee''; the protagonists must make a hapless glukkon absurdly rich by stealing money from other glukkons, then mind-control him into buying a can of eggs from an endangered species with one such WhammyBid. And the whammy goes both ways, as the sum is effectively all of said glukkon's new fortune.

Depending on the format of the auction this may or may not be possible in RealLife.

* Happens near the end of ''Film/MouseHunt'', where a wealthy art collector bids $17 million on the house, [[spoiler:just before it's destroyed by water damage]]. The same guy previously tried to buy the house prior to the auction for a much lower sum (though still in the millions).

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[[folder: RealLife]]

* ''VideoGame/Uncharted4AThiefsEnd''': Nate, Sam and Sully have infiltrated a black-market auction to steal a vital clue in the hunt for Avery's treasure before the BigBad (a very wealthy rival treasure hunter mostly in it for his own ego) can buy it up, and Sully is forced into a bidding war with him to stall for time. Once Nate and Sam are in position, Sully ups the bid one last time, goading the rival into making a dramatically huge bid out of annoyance.

** Subverted in "Harlequinade": A really big bomb is up for auction. The gangsters bid increasingly absurd amounts for it. And then they hear SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker's voice: "How about nothing? That's right...I'm talking zero, zip, zilch, nada."

* ''ComicBook/BuckGodotZapGunForHire'' provides the page image. As can be seen, the titular character places it and the seller (who was covertly selling military secrets using a computerized bid recorder that apparently lacked a "dump last bid" option) gets pissed off at him for it.
** Slightly different in that Buck had no intention of winning the auction or paying his bid, and no one thought he did. He was just wrecking an illicit automated auction while pissing off the auctioneer.

* Google made [[http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/02/us-dealtalk-nortel-google-idUSTRE76104L20110702 such whammy bids]] for some patents some time back. The whammy part is not because of the huge bidding amount, but because the numbers are mathematical constants, including ''[[MouthfulOfPi pi]]''.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''Disney/RalphBreaksTheInternet'': Ralph and Vanellope find themselves on [=eBay=] and, observing the bidders, think an auction is a game where you shout out higher numbers than your opponents. They engross themselves in shouting increasingly large numbers until they suddenly owe over twenty thousand dollars for an item that originally went for $200.

* In ''[[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Porky and Teabiscuit]],'' Porky Pig collects $11 for a farm delivery when he attends an auction where the auctioneer is bidding off a rope. When Porky tells another spectator the time is 11 o'clock the 11 mistaken as his winning bid. Porky takes the rope which has a broken down nag at the end of it.

* ''Series/AllCreaturesGreatAndSmall'': In the episode "The Pig Man Cometh" James engages in a series of whammy bids for a house. Played with in that he knows he cannot afford to pay out, but he is trying to run up the bids for the benefit of the widow who is moving out, and he knows that the other buyer is a noted bad tempered old miser who has intimidated most of the other locals into not bidding themselves.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' has this happen in the episode where Peter is brainwashed into being cultured.
** Lampshaded in the ''Film/{{Taken}}'' parody episode where Meg gets kidnapped in Paris. Stewie and Brian disguise themselves at a slave auction, with Stewie being the "girl" put up for bid, and Brian was the bidder. For the sake of ending the bid early, Brian bids a much higher price than everyone else so far.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', an artifact of power once belonging to Morgan Le Fay is mixed in with an antiquities auction. Jason Blood, the human host of the demon ComicBook/{{Etrigan}}, and ComicBook/KlarionTheWitchBoy ([[InsistentTerminology dum, dum, dum]]) have a brief bidding war ending in the low six figures when Blood is forced to concede defeat. Bruce Wayne, who knows Blood, wins it for him with a sudden "One... million."

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Homer left Bart and Lisa to keep his spot at a DMV line. In retaliation, when it'd be his turn to be served, Bart and Lisa auctioned it. After several people made bids, Fat Tony offered a lollipop for it. Being a mafia boss, his offer was quickly accepted.