Dodgy auctioneer?

redmalc

I am an auctioneer and recently we sold some big ticket items and one of the lots had so many commission bids left ranging from 6k to 12k the lot was started at £11,500.
Obviously the starting bid had to eliminate all of the commission bids and most people understand that,but I must say there are so many sale rooms now buying stock and reselling the industry comes under scrutiny so often

StumpyPumpy

RFW wrote: »

Leaving bids is never the best idea. If you're planning to attend any auction write down the price you're willing to pay for every item you want to bid on and don't bid over it. Make sure you're clear which lot is being sold at the time. Also know what is added on to the knockdown price, most places will have a buyer's premium and VAT,. You could be paying up to 40% on top of the hammer price.

If it's a weekly auction go to one without an intention of buying anything and see what's happening in the room.

Largely speaking, I may have already said this, I don't care who or what is bidding against me. If I want to pay £x for something and I can pay that or less then I'm happy. If every lot goes above what I want to pay then I may try that auction again, if that failed I'd leave it alone.

Some of my best buys have been at the dodgiest auctions.

This ^^^^

Especially the bit about deciding how much you are prepared to spend and sticking to it. I've lost count how many times I've heard an auctioneer goading a bidder who has dropped out with "come on sir, one more bid and it will be yours" If they do bid then the auctioneer's attention returns to the previous bidder and often repeats the same line.

Make sure you know the bidding increments used too and try, if you can to start at a point that means you can end on your max rather than the bid below. For instance if your limit is £70, try to get the £50 bid rather than the £55 - not always possible, of course.

Check if you need to register to bid, some auction rooms ask you to pay a returnable deposit to make sure if you do bid you will pay too. If you are going to bid, make it a clear signal that you are doing so: wave your bidder number or your arm in the air. Don't try and "be cool" and bid with a single, slightly raised eyebrow. That only works if you are known to the auctioneer as he will be looking at the likely suspects first. Once you have got his attention, you don't need to be quite so manic, but if you can't get his attention, shout out.

There may be several people interested in bidding on the lot with you, it was always my preference to leave the two that start bidding against each other to get on with it until one drops out, sometimes the auctioneer will ignore any other bidders until this point anyway. Then I'd join in at the end if it hadn't reached my limit. Make sure you know how the auctioneer closes the bids, some are a lot quicker than others - in my experience most don't do the "going once, going twice" speech popular on TV, some will just raise the hammer and pause for a fraction. If they are fast then I will shout out straight away.

And don't forget to show your bidding card in all the excitement of winning a lot :rotfl:

SP

soolin

StumpyPumpy makes some good points, I agree with them all especially with the 'it's not like the TV' bit. one of the auctions I attend gets through 3 lots a minute and we can be quite a long way from the auctioneer and not necessarily directly in front of him, so a slightly raised eyebrow won't cut it- A big wave of the catalogue or hat is needed to catch the auctioneers eye. However once you have his eye (and he only takes 2 bidders at a time) he will wait for you to nod against a further bid. That's the thing that seems to catch out newbies, they want to bid and complain that the auctioneer ignored him and concentrated on 2 regulars instead- not realising that there is no point in taking a third bidder until one of the original bidders has dropped out.

forgotmyname

StumpyPumpy wrote: »

This ^^^^

And don't forget to show your bidding card in all the excitement of winning a lot :rotfl:

SP

Been there and done that, why is he staring at me when i have outbid everyone and won it, ahh my number oops. No wonder everyone is staring. I hide at the back for my next bid

Mine 15% +VAT or 20% +VAT So i just add 50% and work my max bid on that, saves messing with the difference.

Although someone did show me a quick way to add VAT when it was 17.5%. Just get 10% whats half of that and half of that.
So you get 10% + 5% + 2.5%. Just so simple i thought why didnt i do that? Much easier now its 20% not so easy on the pockets though.

You forgot to say dont bid against your own family member another oops. Luckily others were still bidding not down to the 2 of us.

RFW

forgotmyname wrote: »

You forgot to say dont bid against your own family member another oops. Luckily others were still bidding not down to the 2 of us.

It's surprising how often that happens, I often had to stop bids and ask if people were together, less scrupulous auctioneers just take the bids. It can get quite exciting so understandable that people can get carried away with various things. Remember that it's not a game and that it's your own money your playing with. I have occasionally been to auctions buying on someone else's behalf, now that is good;)

Contains_Mild_Peril

StumpyPumpy wrote: »

If you are going to bid, make it a clear signal that you are doing so: wave your bidder number or your arm in the air. Don't try and "be cool" and bid with a single, slightly raised eyebrow. That only works if you are known to the auctioneer as he will be looking at the likely suspects first. Once you have got his attention, you don't need to be quite so manic, but if you can't get his attention, shout out.

There are two auctioneers in my town and one of them is quite bad at spotting bidders trying to get his attention. Sometimes a porter will draw his attention to a bidder frantically waving whom he's overlooked, but occasionally you do have to shout. I've also had occasions when I believed he was taking my bid and only found out after the hammer fell and I showed him my number that he actually hadn't noticed me and sold it to someone behind me. This is obviously unfair not only to the potential customer who's lost out but also to the seller who is getting less for their item than they should.
The most infuriating thing is if the auctioneer belatedly notices someone who's been very visibly trying to bid, he's been known to say "Sorry, you were too slow" even if they were the first person to raise their hand! At least I'm pretty sure he never sells to "the chandelier".

RFW

Contains_Mild_Peril wrote: »

There are two auctioneers in my town and one of them is quite bad at spotting bidders trying to get his attention. Sometimes a porter will draw his attention to a bidder frantically waving whom he's overlooked, but occasionally you do have to shout. I've also had occasions when I believed he was taking my bid and only found out after the hammer fell and I showed him my number that he actually hadn't noticed me and sold it to someone behind me. This is obviously unfair not only to the potential customer who's lost out but also to the seller who is getting less for their item than they should.
The most infuriating thing is if the auctioneer belatedly notices someone who's been very visibly trying to bid, he's been known to say "Sorry, you were too slow" even if they were the first person to raise their hand! At least I'm pretty sure he never sells to "the chandelier".

I've known a few of those. Best thing to do is get very near to the front and give definite bids, if there's a catalogue wave that. The other thing that people forget they can do is shout out. A clear "Yes" will get the auctioneer to notice your bid. Also once he knows to look at you (because you're the noisy one) you can be more discrete and win more bids.
It may also help to wear more defining clothes, a hat or a tie, a red hankie in your pocket, whatever. Something the auctioneer can attach to to notice you.