Best, worst auction deals. (was Re: eBay vrs42?)

[Sean 'Captain Napalm' Conner]

It was thus said that the Great Eric Smith once stated:
> 
> My worst auction deal was also at an arcade auction, and resulted from
> getting the auctioneer pissed off at me.  The auctioneer was trying to
> start the bidding on every lot at over $1000, even for things that he
> would have been lucky to get $50 for.  I don't know if he was
> inexperienced or what.  All the bidders were getting pissed off, because
> he'd try to start at $1000, back off to $950, to $900, etc.  It was
> looking like we'd be there all day.  So I started yelling out "$25"
> for each lot.  He tried to ignore me and keep the numbers high, but
> other bidders started replying to my bid by yelling "$30", "$35", etc.
> He was getting visibly more and more pissed off at me, but there wasn't
> any way he could eject me.  So he inserted a lot out of sequence that
> was a "churro warmer" or some such crap.  By rights that shouldn't have
> sold at all, or should have gotten maybe $1.  But he didn't describe
> the lot, just called out the lot number, so I bid $25 like on everything
> else, and of course I won it.

  Do auctioneers get paid on a percentage of the selling price?  That would
certainly explain why they get upset at stuff that less for less than
expected.

  -spc (Been to auctions with friends were *we* colluded on lots ... )