Underbid: meaning, definitions and examples

Employed frequently in the context of auctions, tenders, or competitive bidding situations where someone offers a lower price than the competitors.

• In order to win the contract, we had to underbid our competitors.
• They decided to underbid on the project to ensure they were awarded the work.

Used in marketing and sales contexts when a product or service is sold at a price lower than its perceived value or market price.

• The company underpriced its new line of smartphones to attract more customers.
• She realized she had underpriced her handcrafted items when they sold out immediately.

Commonly used in negotiations or bargaining scenarios, sometimes with a connotation of being unfair or deceptive by offering a significantly lower price than what is fair.

• He tried to lowball the seller by offering half of the asking price.
• Be careful not to lowball; you don’t want to offend the other party.

Typically used in commerce when someone sells a product or service at a lower price compared to competitors, often to gain a market advantage.

• They decided to undersell their competitors to gain a larger market share.
• Local stores often find it hard to compete with big chains that can afford to undersell them.

Use 'underbid' when referring to submitting a bid that is lower than someone else's bid, often in auctions or competitive bidding situations.

• He decided to underbid his competitors to secure the construction contract.
• The buyer underbid and lost the auction.

Use 'outbid' when someone offers more money than others in a bidding situation, usually to win an item or contract.

• She outbid everyone to win the rare painting.
• If you really want that car, be prepared to outbid other interested buyers.

Use 'undershoot' in contexts where something falls short of a target or expected value, commonly seen in financial, project management, or performance metrics.

• The company's sales undershot their quarterly targets.
• He undershot his calorie goal for the day.