Can a bid be bumped up by an auction house to force a sale?

Keep_pedalling

Auction houses can also make “off the wall bids” to attempt to avoid a no sale, nothing wrong with this, otherwise a single bidder willing to go to or above the reserve price would lose an item for a price they were happy with just because no one else was bidding against them. The seller would also miss out and still have fees to pay as well.

soolin

Jsacker said:

soolin said:

Jsacker said:

soolin said:

Jsacker said:

shaun_from_Africa said:

The_Rainmaker said:

Most reserves have discretion and you should have factored that in to your reserve at the start.

Did you actually read the opening post?
There was a reserve set and this had a 10% discretion agreed with the auctioneers but although the bidding failed to reach the lower figure (reserve -10% discretion), the auctioneers still sold it by making up the difference.

The reason I think this is wrong is that as no one at the auction was interested enough to bid the minimum that the OP wanted, there was obviously little interest and no competition for the item, possibly due to low attendance.
As the required amount wasn't offered by any bidders, the OP should have been given the option to have their unsold goods returned to them and could then have put them in another auction in the future where there may have been more attendees and more competition.

I agree! It does seem a tad dodgy. 

I think that the poster should look over the Ts and Cs carefully. I'm thinking that, if nothing exists to say what happens when the reserve - 10% isn't met, it could be a simple breach of contract for the auction house to sell on the goods in the manner they've done it in here.

If so, it might be possible to lodge an MCOL claim for the difference between what the poster has received and the "guide price" of the item (whether that is something the auction house provided, or via an external valuation of said item in the condition it was in). Not sure if they could claim for intangible losses (loss of enjoyment, stress, inconvenience) as well, but who knows?

Seller is receiving reserve less 10% though as outlined in the terms and conditions. The only difference is that auction house paid the difference between highest bid and reserve less 10% and not a bidder. Seller is receiving exactly the same money. 

My (and I presume shaun's) understanding is that reserve less 10% WASN'T met here.

To quote OP:

"The highest bid did not meet the reserve, even with the 10% discretion"

From the OP :
“ and then discovered the auction house had processed the sale anyway, saying they’d made up the difference”

But that could be a breach of contract, depending on the specific Ts and Cs!!!

It might be a very technical breach, mind you, but if the Ts and Cs effectively say "we will sell at reserve price or 10% less at our discretion" then selling it with more than 10% discretion would be contrary to their Ts and Cs irrespective of whether the money was made up or not!

As a side note, I've never seen you before on here? I don't frequent here much myself, but I find it a bit odd that the person most vocal against me right now is a board guide?

I get everywhere and certain threads catch my attention- this one did as use auction houses a lot.

I think the terminology about whether or not an auction house can make up the difference and still consider it a sale is a point not worth spending money questioning in the courts - the OP has had no financial impact from auction house making up their money, so have no losses to chase. Obviously my view does not preclude the OP from taking legal action as to whether they should have had the item back unsold- possibly at a further cost to the seller for lotting fees, catalogue work and photos, however I fail to see what legal action would achieve since there are no losses to claim.

It is easy after the sale to regret selling, just before lockdown I saw a widget sell for around £40 and knew I had a near identical item- so as soon as I could after lockdown I put that in the same auction house - it went for £15 which netted me around £10 after fees     I can beat myself up with hindsight saying I should have held onto the item, or waited a few months-  but that is how auctions work - the auctioneer said that mine would have the same £15 reserve as the one in March and unfortunately mine sold on reserve to the 2nd bidder The next one that sells might go higher, or even remain unsold. 

peter_the_piper

Put item for sale with minimum price. Item sells fort his minimum, Job done. How its made up is totally immaterial.

Manxman_in_exile

What soolin said is it in a nutshell.  Selling at auction is a gamble.