Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

A. G. Maisey · 6th August 2019, 05:29 AM

I used to buy a lot at auctions in the days when Lawsons in Sydney used to charge a seller 10% and a buyer nothing. I started buying at auction when I was around 15 or 16, usually left bids. However, I rarely buy at auction these days because of the buyers premium, plus the fact that it is frequently a matter of bidding against people who do not seem to have any idea of the true value of an item. But I do understand the way auctions work.

There are a number of ways that an item can appear to have bids placed on it that the auctioneer is pulling off the wall. There are left bids that I have used, the auctioneer is entitled to lodge bids to keep a lot moving and maintain the pace of the auction, ordinary general auctioneers aim for between 60 and 90 lots an hour, that means that the bidding moves quickly.

There are telephone bids, there are internet bids. There are people in the bidders present who have pre-arranged a signal with the auctioneer so that others do not know they are bidding, this sort of thing is usually used by someone who is a known expert.

Then there is the reserve price.

The cream on the cake are the auction houses who own the auctioned goods themselves, but pretend that they are auctioning a deceased estate or whatever. Basically, they're all shonks and liars, and they tell you this themselves in the "Terms" section of their catalogues.

Often a lot will finish and you don't really know if it has sold or not, so you need to check at the end of the auction.

6th August 2019, 05:29 AM	#18
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,697	I used to buy a lot at auctions in the days when Lawsons in Sydney used to charge a seller 10% and a buyer nothing. I started buying at auction when I was around 15 or 16, usually left bids. However, I rarely buy at auction these days because of the buyers premium, plus the fact that it is frequently a matter of bidding against people who do not seem to have any idea of the true value of an item. But I do understand the way auctions work. There are a number of ways that an item can appear to have bids placed on it that the auctioneer is pulling off the wall. There are left bids that I have used, the auctioneer is entitled to lodge bids to keep a lot moving and maintain the pace of the auction, ordinary general auctioneers aim for between 60 and 90 lots an hour, that means that the bidding moves quickly. There are telephone bids, there are internet bids. There are people in the bidders present who have pre-arranged a signal with the auctioneer so that others do not know they are bidding, this sort of thing is usually used by someone who is a known expert. Then there is the reserve price. The cream on the cake are the auction houses who own the auctioned goods themselves, but pretend that they are auctioning a deceased estate or whatever. Basically, they're all shonks and liars, and they tell you this themselves in the "Terms" section of their catalogues. Often a lot will finish and you don't really know if it has sold or not, so you need to check at the end of the auction.