upset price - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Compare set up, i.e. fixed, determined.

upset price (plural upset prices)

1. The lowest price at which an auction item may be sold.

   Synonym: reserve

   • 1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC:

     After a solemn pause, Mr. Glossin offered the upset price for the lands and barony of Ellangowan.