Any one win an auction item just to have it taken away???

[2Minnesota]

Hi, just need to vent...

Last Friday I was at an auction (put on by Aasness Auctioneers in Minnesota) and won an item and the auctioneer said "sold number 204" which was me. Then he said "what? Oh, I guess we had another bid" and restarted the auction at 15$. I didn't bid again because I felt pis*ed. I've been at other auctions where this has happened and the auctioneer says "Sorry, hold your numbers up high" and DOES NOT RESELL THE ITEM. Ok, Rant over. I will not be going out of my way to attend another of their auctions. Just sayin'

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Diving for Pleasure and Treasure - Grab it through Amazon!

[Tallone]

That sucks. Many auctioneers have assistants who act as "spotters" watching for new bids. It may be that an assistant saw a bid that the auctioneer missed. Usually, the assistants are instructed to immediately shout out a bid in a loud voice so such screw ups don't happen. Missed bid or not, I agree, once the auctioneer says "sold" that should be the end of it.

All of that being said, it is important to be wary of auctioneers. Some wag once defined an auctioneer as: "A person who can pick your pocket with their tongue." I have been to a lot of different auctions and some auctioneers are a little shady. I have had my bid ignored in favor of a bid from someone the auctioneer was on a first-name basis with. I have had an auctioneer acknowledge a bid I did not make. I have seen auctioneers describe items incorrectly to imply value that the object does not have. I won't go to auctions conducted by auctioneers who have shown themselves to be less than honest. Even then I need to be careful. I always make my bids VERY obvious by holding my bidder number up high. That way, any inadvertent small motions I may make are unlikely to be interpreted as a bid. And I NEVER trust an auctioneer's description of an item. If I haven't inspected the item carefully myself, I rarely bid on it.

 

[2Minnesota]

I agree Tallone. I get there early and inspect the items before I bid to. I also have had bids acknowledged I didn't make, for instance, I was bidding on something and decided it was to high and he put me in again. I didn't win it thank God! I quit all eye contact with auctioneer when I'm done bidding and I will audibly say "no" when they point and wait for me to bid. I do think you can find some good things at auctions tho' and they are fun to attend even if you do not buy. A few weeks ago there were 2 dog crates-used- going and they both went for more than Walmart sells them for new! I love to people watch. LOL

 

[mojjax]

That does suck - I worked for an auctioneer back in the 80's - I was a holder upper & a bid spotter - when he said SOLD - it was final . He even explained that in his opening statements before the auction began .

 

[Iron Patch]

I would have walked up to the guy face to face to sort it out. sold is sold.

 

[billn1956]

I have never been to a auction where there was a mix up where it was not reopened bewteen the 2 bidders,But each state is differant in the laws they have to follow so you need to at least take a look at the laws in the state where you will be going.

 

[diggummup]

I agree with Iron Patch on this one. Once he says sold, it's all over. That's BS.

 

[Rawhide]

Ok in the Auction business, reputation is everything. You tell the owner, tell the auctioneer how you feel. Make sure you tell them you are telling everyone else. There is nothing else that can be done. Dont go back to this guys auctions.

 

[flinthunter]

Most auctioneers are licensed by the state they reside in. Get his state license nnumber. It will be listed on his web site, truck, or sale bill, etc. Turn him in to the state.

 

[2Minnesota]

I should have went face to face with him! He wouldn't know what to do with a short gal in his face telling him like it should be!! It was actually the owner himself auctioning and he did have spotters. I didn't know you could report this to the state either....hmmm. Thanks for all the support, I guess my feelings were legit. Every other auction I've been to Sold is Sold. Oh well, they lost this customer!

 

[jeff of pa]

Hi, just need to vent...

Last Friday I was at an auction (put on by Aasness Auctioneers in Minnesota) and won an item and the auctioneer said "sold number 204" which was me. Then he said "what? Oh, I guess we had another bid" and restarted the auction at 15$. I didn't bid again because I felt pis*ed. I've been at other auctions where this has happened and the auctioneer says "Sorry, hold your numbers up high" and DOES NOT RESELL THE ITEM. Ok, Rant over. I will not be going out of my way to attend another of their auctions. Just sayin'

I've seen it happen. not to me that I remember.

however if I wanted the item, I'd bid as high as I did before, but not higher.

If it was a bid on something I really didn't care about,
I wouldn't play, and would back out of bidding all together,
and hope they loose money next round.

 

[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

I agree with everyone else... The rules of bidding and being an auctioneer need to be followed to the (T). One of the main rules is, when the bidding is closed. ITS CLOSED (sold is sold) No one is allowed to bid again and the item goes to the high bidder end of story. At least that's how I thought it works... I'm sorry this happened to you but its turning out to be a very informative post ! So at least that is a good thing.

Keep @ it and HH !!

 

[jason4kstate]

It happened to me for the first time a few weeks ago. I was bidding on a flat of costume jewelry. There were some average Trifari and Monet pieces in the box...probably $30-50 worth of items. The bidding went up to $17 and I thought I won. Then this woman in the back starts hollering saying she bid. So they auctioneer looked at me and opened bidding again. He could tell I was pissed and apologized but I was more angry at the other bidder because I knew she did not raise her card or say anything. She was putting her other "winnings" AKA trash into a box and wasn't paying attention. I wrote it off and thought "well at least it wasn't on something I actually collect or a piece of jewelry for my wife"