Aston Works Service auction. Bids 420k but hasn't registered
Discussion
Was at Bonhams Aston auction on Saturday,standing at the left near the front by the DB4 Convertable,a couple of more ordinary lots go through,then the DBS Shooting Brake is next. Bidding is going OK then slows @ 80k or so,then a new bidder appears about six feet away,takes me about three bids before I spot exactly who he is,Young chap,looks hardly old enough to drive,bows out mid 200k.Car sells for 300k.Next car he bids on is the DB5 Convertible which he secures for 420k.I'm quite amused at this as he looked the most unlikely buyer of a car like this,and the other car he bid on was so different.Then the auctioneer asks for his paddle number.a bit of a pause, a bit of shuffling about,auctioneer asks again and young chap produces the seat number from his seat.Mr.auctioneer went a very bright shade of red and then asked one of his assistants to "Have a word".Said assistant,had several "words" on several occasions before leading him out to the front showroom.
Question is,how legal or ethical is this? The Shooting Brake may have sold for far less if this chap hadn't bid on it. Does anyone here know anymore about this?
Question is,how legal or ethical is this? The Shooting Brake may have sold for far less if this chap hadn't bid on it. Does anyone here know anymore about this?
I did see said incident, only with the DBS though. I thought it was very interesting as the young chap in question had the enamel badge for the permiere package section of the auction of which there are only about 100 places. There is a lot of free-flowing champagne in that section....maybe too much?
I'm an auctioneer by trade and have my own auction house - in an unrelated field though we do sell vehicles. You may be interested in an auctioneer's view on these things.....
We have plenty of hassle, like all auctioneers, getting the last few people to pay but it's actually been a while since we had an unregistered bidder trying to bid and we sell 10-20,000 lots per year. It's actually not a common problem and we have plenty of buyer problems in general !
When we do drop the hammer to someone who hasn't registered, regardless of if they look like they may be serious or not, we always start by immeditely offering it to the underbidder at the price they bid i.e. if the hammer drops at 100 and the underbidder's last bid was 90, we offer it to the underbidder at 90 but don't insist they have to take it at that level. We do this very openly and transparently without pressure, which 19 times out of 20 the underbidder accepts and appreciates we are giving him first option
If they don't accept, despite the fact that we always say before the sale & in writing that if the hammer drops to someone that hasn't registered 'it's tough', we then see if the 'winning bidder' wants to register pronto so we can accept their bid - we only give this option on more valuable lots for a variety of hopefully obvious reasons
If the 'winning bidder' isn't given or doesn't take that option, we then may ask if anyone else in the room wants the lot at the underbidder's price (we tend to only do this on lesser value lots just to move things along) and assuming we've tried all thsoe options and the lot still isn't sold, we start the bidding process again. We never 'in the room' sell for less than the underbidder's bid unless we have started the lot all over again, despite sometimes having offers shouted out
However there are no hard and fast rules in the industry - each auctioneer will treat this nightmare scenario (to them) with an element of discretion and theoretically, there is an argument that the guy who didnt register is still legally bound to his bid and can be sued if they don't make good......
We have plenty of hassle, like all auctioneers, getting the last few people to pay but it's actually been a while since we had an unregistered bidder trying to bid and we sell 10-20,000 lots per year. It's actually not a common problem and we have plenty of buyer problems in general !
When we do drop the hammer to someone who hasn't registered, regardless of if they look like they may be serious or not, we always start by immeditely offering it to the underbidder at the price they bid i.e. if the hammer drops at 100 and the underbidder's last bid was 90, we offer it to the underbidder at 90 but don't insist they have to take it at that level. We do this very openly and transparently without pressure, which 19 times out of 20 the underbidder accepts and appreciates we are giving him first option
If they don't accept, despite the fact that we always say before the sale & in writing that if the hammer drops to someone that hasn't registered 'it's tough', we then see if the 'winning bidder' wants to register pronto so we can accept their bid - we only give this option on more valuable lots for a variety of hopefully obvious reasons
If the 'winning bidder' isn't given or doesn't take that option, we then may ask if anyone else in the room wants the lot at the underbidder's price (we tend to only do this on lesser value lots just to move things along) and assuming we've tried all thsoe options and the lot still isn't sold, we start the bidding process again. We never 'in the room' sell for less than the underbidder's bid unless we have started the lot all over again, despite sometimes having offers shouted out
However there are no hard and fast rules in the industry - each auctioneer will treat this nightmare scenario (to them) with an element of discretion and theoretically, there is an argument that the guy who didnt register is still legally bound to his bid and can be sued if they don't make good......
I also witnessed this interesting exchange and immediately wondered why the auctioneer was accepting bids from a someone he didn't recognise as a seasoned buyer and clearly without a bidding paddle.
For whatever reason he eventually left closely followed by his friends.
When I last looked the car was showing as having been sold on the Bonhams website.
I would be very interested to know the eventual outcome.
For whatever reason he eventually left closely followed by his friends.
When I last looked the car was showing as having been sold on the Bonhams website.
I would be very interested to know the eventual outcome.
http://www.classicandperformancecar.com/news/marke...
From Classis and Performance car's report it seemed to have sold for £300k which I seem to remember as being less than when the hammer fell in the auction.
From Classis and Performance car's report it seemed to have sold for £300k which I seem to remember as being less than when the hammer fell in the auction.
Unless I'm on first name terms with the auctioneer (many were last Saturday) I always make my first couple of bids with my bidding number at sales. That way the auctioneer knows I have registered, and I am showing that I a serious about trying to make a purchase.
There were a few hic-cups with winning bidders not having the number to hand last week, enough to cause some obvious irritation with the auctioneer, all which was totally unnecessary.
I saw the individual mentioned above accompanied out and whilst we should not go on first impressions I would not have been surprised if his bid could not have been honored.
dw
There were a few hic-cups with winning bidders not having the number to hand last week, enough to cause some obvious irritation with the auctioneer, all which was totally unnecessary.
I saw the individual mentioned above accompanied out and whilst we should not go on first impressions I would not have been surprised if his bid could not have been honored.
dw
Gassing Station | Aston Martin | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff