I went to an auction today in Campbell MN. It was a collection of mostly JD two cylinders and assorted misc. Most of the tractors were in non running condition but it was a nice assortment of models. But the thing that struck me the most was the auctioneers. It was run by Double D Auctions out of Breckenridge MN and I witnessed some things, that to my eye, were of a questionable nature and I'm curious as to what others think to see if I'm right or maybe I'm off base here.
The thing that caught my eye first was that one of their ringmen was repeatedly making opening bids rather than letting it fall to where it was done by actual bidders. I also repeatedly saw this same ringman bidding against a lone bidder and driving up the sale price, essentially making the bidder bid against himself. The ringman had a bidding number but not once did I see him take a bid. I was hoping for an opportunity to drop a bid on him but never got the chance.
There was also an instance where the high bidder was made to wait for a couple of minutes because the opposing bidder wandered off and they sent ringmen to look for him. He upped the bid on his return and this caused the previous high bidder to cuss them out and leave the auction. My son lost a bid because they awarded to the bidder that he had out bid even though that bidder didn't agree that he won the bid.
I haven't been to a lot of auctions lately, so is this sort of stuff becoming the norm now or should I be avoiding auctions run by these people?
The thing that caught my eye first was that one of their ringmen was repeatedly making opening bids rather than letting it fall to where it was done by actual bidders. I also repeatedly saw this same ringman bidding against a lone bidder and driving up the sale price, essentially making the bidder bid against himself. The ringman had a bidding number but not once did I see him take a bid. I was hoping for an opportunity to drop a bid on him but never got the chance.
There was also an instance where the high bidder was made to wait for a couple of minutes because the opposing bidder wandered off and they sent ringmen to look for him. He upped the bid on his return and this caused the previous high bidder to cuss them out and leave the auction. My son lost a bid because they awarded to the bidder that he had out bid even though that bidder didn't agree that he won the bid.
I haven't been to a lot of auctions lately, so is this sort of stuff becoming the norm now or should I be avoiding auctions run by these people?