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How auctioneers can do better

In a recent story I read regarding Bob Woodward’s book (Rage, 2020) I was not surprised, and rather disappointed (yet again) with the answer to a fairly straightforward question. Thus, my title to this treatise became, “How auctioneers can do better.”

The typical auctioneer in the United States has been a white male for as many years as there have been auctioneers here. More recently,…

Is there customary “bad” practice?

We have written about three (3) distinct standards that auctioneers are held to in court proceedings or by regulatory agencies:

Customary practice

Industry standards

Commercially reasonable

Previously we wrote about these three (3) standards here: https://mikebrandlyauctioneer.wordpress.com/2020/01/13/customary-practice-industry-standards-and-commercial-reasonableness/.

Today, we are writing…

What? Your vendor raised prices?

Auctioneers can’t ever seem to believe it … a vendor raised prices. It could be software, a platform’s sell-through, training, membership, auction calendar … indeed prices generally go up all the time — it’s called inflation.

I was sitting with a client in her home when she remarked, “I purchased this home for $75,000.” The current value you ask? About $300,000. It would seem as an…

Auctioneers are typically well-known in their communities, and some are even known regionally or nationally. As such, it’s best we are careful what we say, proclaim, publish, share, and the like. It seems to me some of us are not sufficiently concerned about this.

Many recent studies are showing that we as users of Facebookspend more time consuming purposely fake (disinformation) than we…

Sotheby’s BP increase? Or not?

Sotheby’s announced recently they were instituting a new “Overhead Premium” of 1% on the hammer price to cover:

The overhead costs relating to our facilities, property handling and other administrative expenses, and reflects the increasing costs associated with delivering great service and experiences in a highly competitive marketplace.

Sotheby’s could have of course just raised their…

Auctioneers with stuff leftover …

The question regarded personal property left at an auction house that didn’t sell because the final bids did not meet nor exceed the reserves. Apparently, the property is still sitting there and the auctioneer can’t get in contact with his or her client.

I would suggest there’s one of three possible problems here:

Selling any personal property with a reserve.

Selling any personal property…

Seller’s tolerance for risk

We’ve held for many years that all bidders at any auction need to adhere to the same terms and conditions. For instance, all bidders need to produce a driver’s license and sign an acknowledgment.

Or, terms and conditions could offer bidders a choice … either a driver’s license or state-issued identification and sign an acknowledgment. Further, terms and conditions could say,“Driver’s…

There are probably not too many college football fans who don’t remember the 2003 double-overtime Fiesta Bowl — OSU 31, Miami 24 for the National Title. Arguably the key play involved an interference call — and our topic today is contractual (tortious) interference in regard to the auction industry.

Contractual (or tortious) interference involves generally a third party (a tortfeasor)…

Auctioneers, race & color

A typical bidder in the United States at an auction in 1920 was a White male. Here in 2020, that bidder might be a white male but might not be. That bidder could easily be non-white and not a male.

That bidder’s racecould be White, Black/African American, Asian, Hispanic, American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, or some combination of two or more of these categories.

Absolute auctions attract far more attention than with reserve auctions. Thus, auctioneers understandably use the word “absolute” and the like to attract bidders.

Don’t believe me? Have you have ever seen an absolute auction advertised as a “with reserve” auction with the hope of attracting more attention and more bidders? I’ll answer that for you … you have not.

Yet, here’s the rub.…

Purpose of the MLS for auctioneers

The real estate profession (members) in the United States has a database commonly termed “the MLS.” This database contains listings (active,) withdrawn, expired, sold, temporarily off the market, etc.

Members of this association place their listings in this database so that potential buyers (their agents) can find them. Let me say that again … so they can find them.

Some auctioneers ask,

More on COVID-19 magic waivers

It seems no matter the issue, some people always assure everyone all we need is yet another disclaimer and/or waiver (attempting) to shield the seller/auctioneer. Such was the case when we wrote about “magical disclaimers” in regard to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Here’s that prior article where we noted soon after that Catherine Sharkey, a law professor at New York University…

Auctions and “time is of the essence”

Some live auctions even today sometimes involve very little technology in regard to payment and/or delivery. Online auctions intrinsically necessitate technology — often specifically regarding payment and delivery.

As such, live auctions have for centuries encompassed the concept of “reasonable time”— bid for what you want, pay before you leave, pick up your items thereafter … all…

Failure to pass the background check

I viewed an auction where in the terms and conditions regarding a firearm noted: “Failure to pass the background check will result in the buyer consigning the item to an upcoming auction.”

I would offer that is not the result. If a buyer is denied, that buyer has neither possession nor title, so there’s no way for that buyer to be the consignor.

When a firearm is consigned to an…

‘Absolute’ or other expressions

Outside of Louisiana, all auctions are “with reserve” by default. That is, they are with reserve unless explicitly denoted as without reserve (absolute.) So, what is explicit? What words constitute this type of change?

Synonyms for “explicit” include “clear, direct, plain, obvious, straightforward … ” in other words, does the advertising or other announcements indicate clearly, plainly,…

You can … so you should?

I continue to see it over and over … “You as an auctioneer can …” and then radio silence. A follow-up in the minds of auctioneers might reasonably be, “So I should?” Not necessarily. For instance, you can:

Drive 135 miles per hour on this road … but should you?

Eat 19 hot dogs in one setting … but should you?

Go for 2 days without any water … but should you?

Walk across the road without…

A $1,000,000 reason to …

One might ask, “Do auctioneers need to treat all bidders the same, other than ‘price’?” In other words, do we have to have all bidders acquiesce to the exact same terms and conditions?

Let’s start with this … auctioneers don’t treat all bidders the same, and rather in practice sell property to the highest bidder — treating that bidder/buyer distinctly different than any other bidder.

Othe…