Public sale to the highest bidders (7)
I believe the answer is:
auction
'public sale to the highest bidders' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
This is the entire clue.
(Other definitions for auction that I've seen before include "Public sale to the highest bidder" , "Public sale by bid" , "Selling" , "Offer to bidders" , "Use caution at public sale" .)