The children were handed over to the person asking least money from the authorities to provide for the child.
The lowest bidder became the child's foster parent and was compensated with an annual amount equal to the bid.
[1] Especially in the Finnish countryside, children sold at auction usually lived in very poor conditions and were mistreated.
[4] Among the notable people who were sold in child auctions are the Swedish politician Fredrik Vilhelm Thorsson, who later became the Minister for Finance of Sweden,[5] Swedish school founder Hanna Lindmark,[6] Finnish politicians Eino Kujanpää,[7] Jukka Lankila[8] and Vasili Suosaari,[9] and Finnish author Joel Lehtonen.
[10] Similar practices were also carried out in other European countries, like the Verdingkinder institution in Switzerland.