laws regarding auctions? - Page 2

Having been to many auctions I know what I want to pay and I bid that right off the bat. I get right in front of the Auctioneer and shout it out right after the opening bid. works half the time..and your bid presence is strong.

Originally Posted by Area67

Having been to many auctions I know what I want to pay and I bid that right off the bat. I get right in front of the Auctioneer and shout it out right after the opening bid. works half the time..and your bid presence is strong.

this does work well on opening bids have tried this a couple times myself depending on what kind of competition is there

In college I was an eBay power seller to supplement my tuition. I would go to 4 or 5 auctions a week during the summer and sell what I bought on eBay. I also have worked for two different auction companies. I've probably been to over 500 auctions in my life.

I have a pretty good idea about the type of guy you are describing. My guess is that he is not a shill for the auction, but rather a loyal customer that the auction house decided to give a hat or something to. Its more common than you might think, many of the auctions I went to had some random guy that the owners knew by name, had a reserved chair and number and bid on all sorts of stuff yet you hardly ever saw him at other auctions. Or it could be a relative of the owner, or something like that, also pretty common. A couple of the auctions I frequented, including one I worked at, had family members/workers bid on a lot of stuff. As long as they pay for the items they win, you can't let it bother you. They have just as much right to bid as you do. You can't let it get personal, if the prices gets higher than what you want to pay stop bidding and wait for another deal to come along.

In fact, if I were the auctioneer and heard wind that you had attempted to collude with a buyer to keep prices lower I would have been pretty upset. That is effectively stealing from the company holding the auction and if you were to do that repeatedly at the auctions I frequented you may have been asked to leave. Please don't interpret that as a personal attack, just pointing out how it could look to the company.

weve try to talk to him several times about keeping stuff low like it is at other auctions and he doesnt seem to care.<<

what you are doing is known as bid rigging. it is a federal crime. the use of shill bidders is not illegal in most states, tho they may be required to inform you IF you ask.

Because bid rigging is a federal crime, the U.S. Department of Justice investigates complaints.
Contact:
Chief Robert Connolly
Middle Atlantic Anti-Trust Office of the US. Department of Justice, Curtis Center, Suite 650 West, 170 South Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA, 19106
(215) 597-7405

one of several offices that handles complaints.