Bidder

“ The peg gave a decided jerk, but still remained in the wax.
"Six shillings and sixpence."
"Seven shillings."
Ping! The metal pin tinkled on the table, the hammer descended, and the picture was ours.
A muttered oath caused me to turn my head and look behind. The unsuccessful bidder was a short, bull-necked man, with clean-shaven, red complexioned features, closely cropped hair, save for a bob hanging over his neck; and powerfully-built shoulders and arms. ”

“ Article 34
⁠A bidder may take part in bidding by himself or authorize his agent to participate in it.
Article 35
⁠A bidder shall have the right to be informed of defects of the objects of auction and the right to inspect them and to have access to information pertaining to them.
Article 36
⁠Once a bidder bids for a price, it shall be irrevocable, and it shall lose its binding force as soon as another bidder offers a higher price. ”

“ Anxious to render this Almanack of as much use as possible to the man of business, the editor has, at the last moment, found room for this document:—
CONDITIONS OF SALE BY AUCTION IN IRELAND. I. The highest bidder to be the purchaser, unless some gentleman bids more.
II. If any dispute arises as to who was the highest bidder, the sale is to stop until the parties have fought it out: but if either combatant is killed, he shall be allowed to amend his bidding for the sake of his bereaved family. ”

“ At the sale the lots are put up, beginning with the lowest number, at two dollars per acre; and if there be no bidder, another lot is put up, and so continued till the sale is ended. If a bidding be made the lot is sold; if more than one bidder, then the highest is the purchaser. ”

“ The amusement has its obvious perils, but the presence of gentlemen in an auction-room is a relief to the auctioneer and to the owner of the books. A bidder must be able to command his temper, both that he may be able to keep his head cool when tempted to bid recklessly, and that he may disregard the not very carefully concealed sneers of the professionals.
In book-hunting the nature of the quarry varies with the taste of the collector. One man is for bibles, another for ballads. Some pursue plays, others look for play bills. ”

“ A broker stands in the situation of an auctioneer, and offers it to the best bidder.
[132] are, therefore, upon honour; and whoever declines to pay his loss is posted upon a black board, declared a defaulter, shut out of the association, and called by the community a lame duck. ”

“ A young woman in good health, able and willing to do housework and plain sewing; or could teach a little child and care for it, would like to secure a position with a respectable family for a term of years. Her services will be disposed of at private auction to the highest bidder, for a term of three, four, or five years. Please communicate with B., Telegram.”
Jarvis crushed the paper in his hands savagely, as though he would destroy the strange little appeal to an unfriendly world. ”

“ Then all these things are tied up in packages and auctioned off to the highest bidder. There is a whole lot of money in it, for people often try to outbid each other, and the fun of the thing is that no one knows what he or she is bidding on."
"Marian Barber," exclaimed Grace, "that's a positive inspiration! You clever, clever girl!"
"Oh, don't think for a minute that I originated the idea," said Marian hastily. "A cousin of mine wrote me about it last winter. They had a 'Mystery Auction' at a bazaar that was held in the town she lives." ”

“ Where a sale is expressed to be without reserve, or where an upset price has been reached, the auctioneer must, after the lapse of a reasonable interval, accept the bid of the highest bona fide bidder. ”

“ The stalls, stands, and privileges of all kinds, in said market, to be used for market purposes, when offered at public sale, shall be let to the highest bidder, and there shall be no bidding on the part of said company, directly or indirectly ”

“ Bidding one Spade, or passing, places a player with two tricks in a position to increase his partner's call; but when a bidder has already shown the full strength, or practically the full strength, of his hand, he should not, under any circumstances, advance either his own or his partner's declaration. The temptation to disregard this rule is at times exceedingly strong. For example, the dealer declares one Heart, holding King, Queen, at the top of five Hearts, and the Ace of Spades. ”

“ A game in which each player holds five cards, the eldest hand stating the number of tricks he will bid to take, any subsequent player having the right to overbid him or a previous bidder, the highest bidder naming the trump and winning a number of points equal to his bid if he makes so many tricks, or losing the same number of points if he fails to make them. ”

“ The owner may employ one person to bid up to the minimum, or he may bid himself. But in this mode, as in the preceding, where the bidding has reached the minimum, then all by-bidding or puffing is fraudulent, and vitiates the sale. The highest real bidder, after reaching that point, is entitled to the property.
The points stated and argued by the counsel for the defendants were the following:--
1. That neither on the allegations or form of the complainant's bill, nor on the evidence, is he entitled in the Circuit Court of the United States, sitting in equity, to the relief he prays for. ”

“ Sometimes property is offered on lease to the highest bidder. “Roup” is the Scottish term for an auction. A bid in itself is only an offer, and may accordingly be retracted at any time before its acceptance by the fall of the hammer or otherwise. ”

“ The by-bidding deceives, and involves a falsehood, and is, therefore, bad. It violates, too, a leading condition of the contract of sales at auction, which is that the article shall be knocked off to the highest real bidder, without puffing. 2 Kent Com., 538, 539. It does not answer to apologize and say that by-bidding is common. For, observed Lord Mansfield, 'Gaming, stockjobbing, and swindling are frequent. ”

“ A little after nine o'clock, the chief of the market arrived, and the sale began. Two or three black girls were first put up. A crier went round the square, followed by the slave for sale, passing through the passage before mentioned. When any person bids, the crier (p. lxv) goes on, calling the sum bid, until some one bids higher, and continues calling till no more is bid, when the slave becomes the property of the highest bidder. There were three or four criers, with each a slave following them, going round the bazaar at the same time. ”

“ An authorized auctioneer is regularly appointed at each place, and a scribe carefully enters the name of the successful bidder, the article he has purchased, and the price. Three months of grace are allowed before such a bill becomes due, but then the buyer must at once pay the sum due or make some arrangement satisfactory to the seller. When natives, whose assets are always limited, have purchased a number of articles, the scribe frequently takes upon himself the responsibility of ordering them not to bid again. ”

“ One of the female fishmongers inquires the price, and bids a groat; the fishermen ask a sum in the opposite extreme: the one bids up, and the other reduces the demand, till they meet at a reasonable point, when the bidder suddenly exclaims, “Het!” This practice seems to be borrowed from the Dutch. The purchase is afterwards retailed among the regular, or occasional surrounding customers.
LINES TO A BARREL ORGAN. For the Table Book.
How many thoughts from thee I cull,
Music’s humblest vehicle! ”

“ In case two players count out during the same deal, the bidder has the first right to the pool, the rule being “bidder counts out first.” If the two players who count out are neither of them bidder, then they go out in regular order, i.e. ”

“ Suppose A. to be the former tenant, and that the bidders for the land do not offer quite so much as one hundred pounds rent for it, and that he is under agreement to have twenty per cent. remitted; if he then thinks the land worth eighty pounds, he may bid one hundred pounds, and will be the successful competitor. But should A. not think it worth while to pay so much as eighty pounds, while B. is willing to pay one hundred pounds, then B. obtains it. Any bidder, to whom the land is knocked down, forfeits a certain deposit in the event of his not completing the bargain. ”

“ Another disinterested party whispers in the buyer’s ear that the horse will be sold at auction. Sure enough, the animal is led to the auction stables, and care is taken that the buyer sees it passing.
The auctioneer and ringman are posted, and they wait for the sucker. The horseman starts the animal at pretty [34] near his value. The bidding is rapid. The sucker gets in, and under excitement bids two or three times. Perhaps one of the regular eastern shippers bids once, but as a rule, the sucker, the auctioneer, and the scalper are the only bidders. ”

“ If the eldest hand decides to pitch and not to sell out, he may do so, but is obliged to make four points or be set back that number. If he decides to sell, he says “I pass,” and the player at his left bids for the privilege of pitching the trump or passes, &c. When a bid has been made the rest must pass or bid higher, and the eldest hand must either accept a bid or undertake to make as many points as the bidder. If no bid is made he pitches the trump himself, without the obligation of making anything. ”

“ She’s a takin’ sort of girl, kind o’ good-lookin’, an’ innercent. W’y, Lord bless you, she’s no more idee of the way a man—like you, for instance—might look at it than a child. She wants to work out—for a matter o’ four or five years, she says; an’ she thinks she c’n get some fool woman to bid twelve hunderd dollars spot cash fer bein’ sure of a hired girl all that time—‘W’y,’ I says to her, ‘you might up an’ die,’ ‘Yes,’ she says, ‘so might a horse; but folks hes to hev horses!’ I tell you she’s cute an’ bright, an’ I’m goin’ to sell her to the highest bidder, same’s I agreed to. ”

“ When bidding don't get excited and think you're attending an auction of shirt-waists at a fire-sale. It distresses your partner terribly to hear you say, "I'll bid two dollars!" when what you meant was two spades. Much better it is that you smile across the table at him and say, "I bid you good evening!"136
You shouldn't get up and dance the Kitchen Sink dance every time you take a trick. It looks more genteel and picturesque to do the Castle Walk. ”

“ Meanwhile the earl was speaking to the fisherman, who stood at the door of his cottage, which was built just out of reach of the waves.
‘Grim,’ he said, ‘to-day you are my thrall, but to-morrow you shall be a free man if you will do my bidding. Take the boy that stands there, and throw him into the sea, that he drown. Fear nothing: the penalty will be mine, not yours.’
‘Your bidding shall be done,’ answered the fisherman, ‘though the deed is but little to my liking.’
‘So be it,’ said the earl, and went home to hold counsel with his family how best to take possession of the crown. ”

“ I am going to hedge part of your money for you.' As my half-sovereign was in my mistress's bet, of course I went with her and I more often won than lost."
The Attorney-general. "Without going minutely into the technicalities of horse racing and betting, may we take it that the principle of the hedging you have spoken of is wise, from a gambling point of view?"
Witness. "Oh yes. By backing a likely horse at a long price, as my mistress had the opportunity of doing through her father, and by laying against it if it comes to a short price, you reduce the chances of losing. That is good hedging." ”

“ The bidding went on. One by one the numbers were sold until all were gone. Then the auctioneer announced that bids for the “high field,” that is, any number above five hundred and ninety-four, were in order. My companion suddenly came to life.
“Ten pounds,” he called.
I started. “For mercy sake, Mr. Heathcroft,” I protested, “don't let anything I have said influence your bidding. I may be entirely wrong.”
He turned and surveyed me through the eyeglass.
“You may wish to bid yourself,” he drawled. “Careless of me. So sorry. Shall I withdraw the bid?”
“No, no. I'm not going to bid. ”

“ Then the merchants came and opened the gate of bidding for the wood and bid against one another till its price reached a thousand dinars, when they left bidding and my host said to me, “Hear, O my son, this is the current price of thy goods in hard times like these: wilt thou sell them for this or shall I lay them up for thee in my storehouses, till such time as prices rise?” “O my lord,” answered I, “the business is in thy hands: do as thou wilt.” Then asked he, “Wilt thou sell the wood to me, O my son, for an hundred gold pieces over and above what the merchants have bidden for it?” ”

“ In the forty years I have been bidding I have found a new thrill in every sale. From my earliest years at Henkels’s auctions to the most recent sales in London, Paris, and New York, I have repeatedly known a fine exhilaration. I sniff the air like an old war horse at the smell of powder. How often have I felt my pulses race, my temperature rise with the rising bids! But as I grow older I find I have to fight that deadliest of maladies—conservatism. This is one thing in the world that the collector should pray to be delivered from. ”

“ The much-desired and valuable picture comes up. An air of apathy seems to settle on the little group of dealers. Bidding is slow and soon ceases. The picture is knocked down to one of the dealers for a fifth of its value. And, after the sale, that little group of dealers adjourn to a neighbouring house of entertainment, where they can have a room to themselves, and a cup of tea if they require it. There they hold a private auction among themselves, and this time the picture fetches its real value. ”