Statistical
Minimum value if unique: find the lowest non-tied bid and winning bidder
Disqualify tied low values and extract the smallest strictly unique number (and its owner) using COUNTIF, FILTER, MIN, and XLOOKUP.
Solve reverse-auction and tie-disqualification rules cleanly
In lowest-unique-bid reverse auctions and tie-disqualification contests, if two vendors submit $100 and two submit $115, both tied amounts are eliminated—making the single untied $125 bid the winner!
Computing each bid's frequency in C2 = COUNTIF($B$2:$B$7, B2) marks strictly unique bids with 1. Checking COUNTIF(C2:C7, 1) = 0 handles the edge case where EVERY bid is tied, and MIN(FILTER(B2:B7, C2:C7 = 1)) returns the lowest untied amount!
This is an illustrative selection rule, not a statement about every auction. Require all six bid amounts to be positive numbers and vendor labels to be present. Use consistent currency precision before testing ties; visually equal rounded displays can conceal different stored values. Each vendor should have one eligible bid under your rules.
| Vendor (A) | Bid $ (B) | Bid Count (C) | Eligibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apex / Bolt | $100 / $100 | 2 each | Disqualified (Tied low) |
| Core / Echo | $115 / $115 | 2 each | Disqualified (Tied) |
| Dune | $125 | 1 (Unique!) | Winner — Lowest Unique Bid! |
| Flux | $140 | 1 (Unique) | Higher unique bid |
Find the minimum strictly unique value (with all-tied fallback)
Returns "No Unique Bid" if every single entry appears two or more times.
=IF(OR(COUNT(B2:B7)<>6,MIN(B2:B7)<=0,COUNTBLANK(A2:A7)>0),"Invalid bid data",IF(COUNTIF(C2:C7, 1) = 0, "No Unique Bid", MIN(FILTER(B2:B7, C2:C7 = 1))))Look up the winning vendor who submitted the lowest unique bid
Because the winning value is guaranteed to appear exactly once, XLOOKUP pinpoints the exact vendor.
=IF(OR(COUNT(B2:B7)<>6,MIN(B2:B7)<=0,COUNTBLANK(A2:A7)>0),"Invalid bid data",IF(COUNTIF(C2:C7, 1) = 0, "None", XLOOKUP(MIN(FILTER(B2:B7, C2:C7 = 1)), B2:B7, A2:A7)))Try the example
Use the original values or change them to test your understanding.