From Wikipedia, these markets use the “clock” variant, with the first bidder winning: “Most commonly, it means an auction in which the auctioneer begins with a

From Wikipedia, these markets use the “clock” variant, with the first bidder winning: “Most commonly, it means an auction in which the auctioneer begins with a high asking price in the case of selling, and lowers it until some participant accepts the price, or it reaches a predetermined reserve price. This has also been called a clock auction or open-outcry descending-price auction. This type of auction shows the advantage of speed since a sale never requires more than one bid. It is strategically similar to a first-price sealed-bid auction.” IPOs are more like the sealed-bid variant.