Bidding

“ 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. ”

“ Some of them regarded the sale with perfect indifference, never making a motion, save to turn from one side to the other at the word of the dapper Mr. Bryan, that all the crowd might have a fair view of their proportions, and then, when the sale was accomplished, stepped down from the block without caring to cast even a look at the buyer, who now held all their happiness in his hands. Others, again, strained their eyes with eager glances from one buyer to another as the bidding went on, trying with earnest attention to follow the rapid voice of the auctioneer. ”

“ Bronzed and bearded stock-farmers and transport-riders, alert-looking townsmen, a sprinkling of Indian coolies, turbaned and deferential, but none the less intent, in their own quiet, half-shy manner, upon getting their money’s worth for their money, all clustered and crowded around the tables, more or less eagerly bidding, or keeping up a running fire of chaff with the auctioneer. ”

“ The bidding then commences, each bidder being responsible only for the amount of his advance on the last bid. After the sale the horse and its rider are run up to the yard-arm amidst loud cheers. Fireworks are let off, the man gets off the horse’s back, and, cutting the rope, lets it fall into the water. ”

“ The informatory school of modern bidding, which attempts, as nearly as possible, to declare the two hands as one, has as an essential feature the overbidding of the partner in an infinite number of cases. ”

“ When the bidding begins, the watcher has considerable opportunity for effective work. Having seen how the cards lie, he is able to stand back and listen with a knowing expression, laughing at unjustified bids and urging on those who should, in his estimation, plunge. At the conclusion of the bidding he should say: "Well, we're off!"
As the hand progresses and the players become intent on the game, the watcher may be the cause of no little innocent diversion. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Those persons who are desirous of purchasing will be allowed to select, within certain defined limits, such portions of land as they may wish to acquire in that manner. These portions of land will be advertised for sale for three calendar months, and will then be sold to the highest bidder, provided that such bidding shall at least amount to the price fixed by Article 2. ”

“ At length the damsel came up to me, and said, "My lord, all the merchants have increased in bidding for my precious toy, but you have neither bidden, nor taken any notice of me." "I have no occasion for it," replied I. "Nay," exclaimed she, "but you must bid something more." "Since I must," I answered, "I will give fifty deenars more, which will be just a thousand." She accepted the price, and I went into my warehouse to fetch the money to pay her, saying to myself, "I will present this curiosity to my wife, as it may please her." ”

“ The auctioneer found himself unanimously elected, and, placing himself in the center of the car, heard the bidding, prompted by every generous impulse that enthusiasm and sympathy can give, rise rapidly in sums of one, two, and three dollars until thirty-five was called. ”

“ Perhaps you get something that's worthless, and then again you may get something that has heaps of value, and perhaps you only pay half a dollar for it. It all depends on the bidding. I once sold an old horse to a chap and he took it home and opened it up, and what d'ye suppose he found inside? ”

“ Moreover, the price at which he elects to sell is the best price, the fairest price, and the most scientific price that human agencies can arrive at, because it is made11 by world-wide competitive bidding at the hands of skilled men in Chicago, in New York, in Liverpool, in Berlin, in Odessa, and in the Argentine, all competing by cable and telegraph. Think of the confidence he enjoys, and the liberty of action; think, too, what it means to him to know that the Exchange through which he deals is a body of honorable men, governed by rules, bidding publicly under one roof. ”

“ Bidding is languid, and valuable books are knocked down for trifling sums. Let the neophyte try his luck, however, and prices will rise wonderfully. The fact is that the sale is a “knock out.” The bidders are professionals, in a league to let the volumes go cheap, and to distribute them afterwards among themselves. Thus an amateur can have a good deal of sport by bidding for a book till it reaches its proper value, and by then leaving in the lurch the professionals who combine to “run him up.” ”

“ It has an appeal all its own. But for the young enthusiast it is often a costly and dangerous game. It is wiser to begin your bidding under the guidance of an experienced agent. There are several collectors and owners of great private libraries in this country whose names are entirely unknown in the auction room. They may enter the salesroom incognito, to enjoy watching their agent at battle with others, but they are careful not to run any risks themselves through careless, inexperienced bidding. One of the greatest book collectors in the world, Mr. Henry E. Huntington, [Pg 83] never bid. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The average value of a rubber at auction is about 400 points. Any much larger figure shows bad bidding. In straight bridge the average is about 180. In settling at the end of the rubber, it is usual for each losing player to pay his right-hand adversary.
MAKING THE TRUMP. In auction, the dealer begins by naming any one of the four suits, or no trumps, for any number of tricks he pleases. Each player in turn to the left then has the privilege of passing, bidding higher, or doubling. When three players pass a bid, it is the highest made and is known as the Winning Declaration or Contract. ”

“ Experience had shown that the formalized ritual of competitive bidding was often unwieldy and uneconomical. For example, competitive bidding was not suited to contracts involving secret projects, nor for contracts involving items for which there was no effective competition between sellers. For these types of procurement, the bill proposed direct negotiation between the Government and available suppliers. ”

“ For, though puffing or by-bidding, as it is often called, will, under both systems alike, render an auction sale voidable at the option of a purchaser when it amounts to fraud, the weight of authority in the United States is in favour of the view that an owner may, without notice, employ a person to bid for him, if he does so with no other purpose than to prevent a sacrifice of the property under a given price. ”

“ It is true that in every association formed to bid at the sale, and who appoint one of their number to bid in behalf of the company, there is an agreement, express or implied, that no other member will participate in the bidding; and hence, in one sense, it may be said to have the effect to prevent competition. ”

“ They require that contracts be placed by competitive bidding, the award to be granted 'to the responsible bidder whose bid * * * will be the most advantageous to the United States, price and other factors considered.' [7] There are statutory exceptions, the relevant ones being as follows:
' (a) Purchases of and contracts for property or services covered by this chapter shall be made by formal advertising in all cases in which the use of such method is feasible and practicable under the existing conditions and circumstances. ”

“ And to make doubly sure that future bids will be completely transparent, the government will resort to electronic public bidding, or the so-called reverse auction method, where bids from all suppliers and contractors will be posted on a website, watched by the whole world, and where each bid can be improved upon by other bidders, this brings transparency to a new dimension. ”

“ The auctioneer, with the customary volubility of such men in America, began by stating, that the lots now to be offered were the remnants of a preceding sale, which he gratuitously observed had been a most satisfactory one, and after dilating with some energy on the good qualities of the woman before us, whose face brightened up a little on hearing such a flattering account of her good qualities, he earnestly requested a bidding. ”

“ The conditions, whatever they are, will bind him; for by one of the legal fictions of which we have still so many, the auctioneer, who is in reality the agent for the vendor, becomes also the agent for the buyer, and by putting down the names of bidders and the biddings, he binds him to whom the lot is knocked down to the sale and the conditions,—the falling of the auctioneer's hammer is the acceptance of the offer, which completes the agreement to purchase. ”

“ 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. ”

“ If at this time the value of the property is increased by bidding even among persons of the same community, the increased amount together with the toll on the value shall be handed over into the king's treasury. ”

“ There is no reason why each should tie up twice as large a proportion of his income in a supply of the medium of exchange. If, however, there is a concerted movement to spend the surplus money, there results a general bidding down of the exchange value of money, a general bidding up of prices of goods. ”

“ To complete a sale by auction there must be a bidding by, or on behalf of, a person capable of making a contract, and an acceptance thereof by the auctioneer, and until the bidding is accepted both vendor and bidder are free, and may retract if they choose. ”

“ Instead of being a dozen bids, all different, and differing sometimes as much as ten, twenty, thirty, forty, or a hundred dollars or more, they would bid the same. If they all agreed on the number of horses and men it would take, and about what it would cost, they would bid about alike, wouldn't they? But when they are bidding they honestly differ. One man says it would take twenty horses, and another says "no, it will take forty." Do you not know that the number of horses depends a great deal upon the kind of man who makes the estimate. ”

“ The bidding, of course, had stopped, owing to the unaffected interest which the public took in this more dramatic interlude. The broker, it is true, had bid twenty-five dollars, and was wrangling with the auctioneer.
“You have my bid, Mr. Brinton, sir, and there is no other offer. Knock down the lot to me.”
“You wait your time, Mr. Isaacs,” said the auctioneer. “No man can do two things at once and do them well. When Squire Moore has settled with Dick Bligh he will desert the paths of military adventure for the calmer and more lucrative track of commercial enterprise.” ”