$17,000 earned auctioning $20 bills In a study, Harvard Business School’s Max Bazerman earned $17,000 auctioning $20 bills to his students, with at least one student paying $204 for a $20 bill. It is reported that in all the years Bazerman ran the auction, he didn’t lose a cent. In a number of studies, psychologists […]

$17,000 earned auctioning $20 bills In a study, Harvard Business School’s Max Bazerman earned $17,000 auctioning $20 bills to his students, with at least one student paying $204 for a $20 bill. It is reported that in all the years Bazerman ran the auction, he didn’t lose a cent.In a number of studies, psychologists have tested the auctioning of $20 bills, and in most of these studies, while the bidding always started at $1.00, it invariably rose to $20 and then $21 – and in some cases rose to as high as $500. Wharton management professor Adam Grant, who plays this game in consulting sessions, says a military officer once paid close to $500 for a $20 bill.Why on earth would anyone, let alone multiple people, bid more than $20.00 for a twenty-dollar bill? While there might be a number of explanations for this behaviour, it would suggest that the…