This morning I was watching a show about auctions on the BBC. I've never been to an auction, but it seems like an interesting (yet hectic!) experience. Have you ever been to an auction? What was it like? Did you buy or sell anything, or did you just watch? I think if I'd ever attend an auction I wouldn't move a muscle, too afraid to make a movement that can be mistaken for a bid!

I'm interested to know if even "real" (or "modern day") auctioneers have those hammers which they bang on the table after the final 'Gone'.

And did you see what the female presenter did?

She actually dumped her boyfriend on the show by saying the following:

"You are going, going, gone, good bye"

Straight up!!!!!

I think he got the message, and i wonder if she will present that show again!

Auctions are very common and frequent in the U.S. Not many auctioneers have a hammer to bang on a table and yell "Sold!" Usually each person bidding has pre-registered and is given a number on a card. You bid by showing your numbered card. The auctioneer (or assistant) remembers the last bid and if there are no more bids after a fair warning....you (your number) has bought the broken lava lamp.

There are usually three types of auctions: Estate, Living Estate and Reserved.
An Estate auction comprises the household goods, and sometimes includes the home, of a deceased person. A Living Estate sale is a person or group of people selling off their possessions prior to moving into a small apartment or leaving the country to start again somewhere else. A Reserved sale can involve any item but the buyer must bid above the minimum price established by the seller.

My wife had a very nice one-horse buggy that used to belong to a doctor who used it to make house calls about a hundred years ago. She would hitch a gentle mare to it and ride around the countryside. When she married me, the buggy just took up space in our garage so we took it to a Reserve sale where horse tack, buggies, wagons, cattle were offered for sale. The highest bid was $400 and just before the auctioneer said "Sold!" she hollered, "No Sale!" We paid the ten percent commission on a no-sale of $400. She later sold it to a museum for $1,000.

I've seen used TV sets sold for more than a new price! A few years ago, I went to a sale where two used and muddy shovels with broken handles were sold for more than one would pay for new. Go figure!