Interesting auction today

Went to an auction today in West Bloomfield NY. Described by the auctioneer as an auction of a hoarders collection.Several old dump trucks,rollers,loaders, basket case tractors and pieces of equipment.Lots of the noncollectable stuff was bought up by several different scrap dealers.What was kinda weird was there was a whole line of collector tractors out in the yard that an hour before the auction suddenly had orange surveyors ribbon on them and were declared not for sale.Almost seems like they were out there to lure people in. Multiple times when asked if a piece of equipment ran the comment by the owner was "it ran the last time I used it, about 5 years ago ". The exception to this was the Mercedes car that he commented it ran 20 years ago.Another thing I noted was that the owner was actively bidding on any bigger ticket item that seemed to be going to sell low.I can only hope that the auctioneer was charging him the commission.Its kinda of discouraging to stand there for several hours waiting for a potential deal only to have to bid against the owner.What was kinda cool was the property had an airstrip and several small planes did fly in for the auction.Two experimental planes were up for bid but the owner was high bidder.Didnt stay around to see the tons of small stuff go.Another thing was no checks were allowed,credit card or cash only.Any comments? Bill M.
auctions website of this auction

I've been to estate and farm auctions in ohio that have reserve prices,shill bidders,and house bidders.At a farm auction last week they auctioned each tractor then asked the owner if he was going to let them go.I was outbid on a tractor and they still knocked it off to me.They said the other bidder was the house bidder.I told them i would take the tractor at the price where the house bidder started bidding.They just passed it.

Disgusting way to run a business.

I've been to Brosteks Auction, I'll bet the owner paid a commission on what he bought.

is the auctioneer a trip or what?

Brzostek runs a tight ship in my experience. I went to one of his auctions a few years ago where the owner won a lot of the bids but that was a divorce situation where all of the assets of the couple were being liquidated. I am sure the commission is being paid, since that's how he makes his money. I've gotten some good deals at his auctions over the years and I like his auctions better than a lot of the local companies. He has a very professional manner and he doesn't hang around forever waiting for a bid that he isn't going to get. I like auctions that move right along.
Zach

I don't know about the auction laws in New York, but In the state of Ohio the law states: The Auctioneer shall not knowingly receive bids by or on the owners behalf. The auctioneer can loose his license for doing that. Having said that, ALL sales in the state of Ohio are with reserve unless otherwise stated . Absolute auctions are not with reserve and are supposed to sell to the highest bidder. I've been known to stop a couple of good auctions I was conducting because the owner had buybidders (house bidders) running up the bid. By being with reserve, the owner does in fact have the right to refuse the sale prior to the fall of the gavel (the auctioneer saying Sold or words to that effect). I've been an auctioneer for a lot of years and can tell you, the owner wanting to hold a reserve on every piece will kill his sale quickly. Keith

Zachary, I have no qualms about the auctioneer,in fact he was quite entertaining.Just thought the owner of the items was a little off.I quess the event would have been easier to take if I had'nt driven 2 hours to get there.If it was closer, probably would have brought the 5 bottom john deere rope trip plow for around $325-$350. it was only missing one moldboard. Bill M.

I went to an auction several weeks ago that had a different way for reserves. On a few of the big ticket items it was announced before any bids that there was a reserve. The owner had put it on a piece of paper in an envelope. That envelope stayed right in plain sight. When the bidding stopped the auctioneer opened the envelope. HE read the reserve. If the last bid was higher then he knocked it off to that bidder. If the reserve was not met then the last bidder was asked if he wanted it at the reserve. If he did not the auctioneer asked if anyone wanted it at the reserve. If no one did they pasted the item. I thought that it was very fair and out in the open. Only one item did not sell. It was a one year old pickup that only had three thousand miles on it, they only had a twenty one thousand bid on it. I did not blame the owner for not selling it.

Seems to me that when and item goes on the block it is up for sale to anybody who wants to bid including the owner. If he wants to buy his own stuff so be it. He goes to the trailer and writes his check like anybody else.

According to the Uniform Commercial Code (adopted by every state except Louisiana) all auctions are with reserve unless stated otherwise. If the auctioneer advertises or says it's an absolute auction, he can't ask the seller if he wants to let something go. If he makes no such statement it's safe to say the buyer has a reserve, the auctioneer will "buy in" the item, or just plain run the item up to the reserve price. According to the UCC a seller can legally bid on his own items....IF the auctioneer makes an announcement to that effect.

how much did the john deere 60 sell for?

When my father-in-law quit farming and had an auction 20 years ago, there were items I was interested in. I had the auctioneer make a pre-auction announcement to that effect, and that if I was seen bidding on an item I was trying to buy it like anyone else, not trying to run up the price.

My FIL was well known for taking good care of his equipment, and most of what I bid on sold for more than I wanted to pay, but no one could accuse me of trying to bump up the price.

If I remember right, $3,000, by the owner

Do you know what those two TD-14 dozers sold for?