The price keeps going up until one entity gives in

“I’m not sure how high it would have gone but I do know that it only takes two people to push up the price at an auction. Most of the people in the room didn’t bid at all and very few people bid beyond £1,500. But that doesn’t matter. When the supply is “one” and there are “two” who want it, then that price keeps going up. Two people who desire something is enough to oversubscribe the one person who has it. The price keeps going up until one entity gives in.
When Facebook purchased cross-platform mobile messaging app WhatsApp for $19 billion, the number seemed ridiculous to almost everyone on the planet – except one other bidder. Google was the other company who wanted to buy WhatsApp and the two rival companies bid the price into the stratosphere. ”

Excerpt From: Daniel Priestley. “Oversubscribed: How to Get People Lining up to do Business with You.”