I am upset..

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by Detecto92, Jul 9, 2015.

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  1. Detecto92

    Detecto92 Well-Known Member

    This is Detecto, my log in stopped working ( I guess since I haven't been on in a long time).

    Tonight I went to an auction and they had a bunch of silver dollars, nickels, etc. The usual offerings of most coin auctions.

    They had a 1887 $5 gold piece in flip. When it was time to sell it, they held up some of the junk nickels with it, and started it at $3.

    I won it...

    I had to pinch myself. I've been attending auctions since I was a little kid and this would of been the 2-3rd "once in a lifetime buy".

    No really...my luck at buying and flipping coins at auctions have never gone well.

    Or so I thought.

    About 20 minutes later someone came up during the auction and pretty much yelled at the auctioneer (he had to turn the mic away).

    "Some little %$#$% bought a $5 gold coin for $3".

    The auctioneer said "I will talk to him about it.".

    After the auction, the auctioneer approached me, in a somewhat intimidating way and said "Look, I know what you did, but I can't tell the seller I sold a $5 gold piece for $3".

    He said the gold piece is worth $180 (no, it scraps for at least $275), and said he would cut me a check for $80 as long as "I never speak of what happened".

    Now after the fact, I realized he was in the wrong. Legally speaking, once something is sold at an auction, it becomes the buyer's property. However I was nervous because the auctioneer called me out and talking to me in a corner.

    Now I realize it's said and done, but I didn't want to cause a scene and get barred from the auction, on the other hand, I don't think it was right for the auctioneer to recall an item due to a "mistake".
     
    NOS and swamp yankee like this.
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  3. silentnviolent

    silentnviolent accumulator--selling--make an offer I can't refuse

    You basically sold it to him for $80. It would have been far more slick to offer to consign to him * with* a reserve. ;)
     
  4. jtlee321

    jtlee321 Well-Known Member

    Wow!! I would have told him, "I won't speak of this, but it was your mistake and not mine. You need to make it right with the seller, not me. I won it fair and square." If this was a legitimate auction house, they would and should compensate the seller for the auctioneer's mistake.
     
    spirityoda likes this.
  5. BooksB4Coins

    BooksB4Coins Newbieus Sempiterna

    And what if it was you who made the mistake; would your moral fiber still be as great? Unfortunately, many of us already know the answer...

    Timmy makes his return with another complaint; some things really do never change.
     
  6. Chiefbullsit

    Chiefbullsit CRAZY HORSE

    Are you upset with yourself?
     
  7. jtlee321

    jtlee321 Well-Known Member

  8. Detecto92

    Detecto92 Well-Known Member

    The more I think about it, the more upset I am.

    I felt like telling the auctioneer that it was his mistake, and I should not have to loose out on $300 because of him, but like I said, he pretty much got me in a corner and was very intimidating about the whole ordeal.

    I am going to call the auctioneers association for my state tomorrow and ask what their input is.

    This auctioneer also has tendency to have a bid when he doesn't have one, which I don't think is ethical.

    For example he will start a item at $20, jump to $30, then $40, the go back down to $10, when he doesn't have a bid in the first place.
     
  9. buddy16cat

    buddy16cat Well-Known Member

    I would still spread the word that they go back on auctions. Seriously, this was his error not yours.
     
  10. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    Hi, Tim...let it go, it's over.
     
  11. spirityoda

    spirityoda Coin Junky

    :shifty:
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2015
  12. Conder101

    Conder101 Numismatist

    Had you paid for the lot yet? It depends on the auction terms of sale, but with most auction houses the auctioneer has the right to reopen any lot at his descresion. Once you pay for it though it is YOURS.

    You do have the right to file a complaint with your state licensing board though.
     
    silentnviolent likes this.
  13. Detecto92

    Detecto92 Well-Known Member

    I'm going to call the state auctioneer's association in the morning and ask for their advice.

    It's not really the whole coin thing the bothers me, its the fact that a competing bidder made a scene about it, because he didn't get it, and the fact that the auctioneer cornered me and paid me 1/4th of what it was worth to give it back with intimidation tactics.

    I do realize the auctioneer has a right to re-open, but the scene was made about 30 minutes later, the auctioneer waited until the auction was over before he cornered me.
     
  14. cpm9ball

    cpm9ball CANNOT RE-MEMBER

    It's the same old song
    but with a different meaning
    since you've been gone!


    Tim dood it again!

    Does anybody really know what time it is
    does anybody really care!


    Chris
     
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  15. Competing bidder? What did he bid $2 and was upset you won it for $3? Seems odd to me.
     
    swamp yankee likes this.
  16. Detecto92

    Detecto92 Well-Known Member

    No...he buys gold and silver up there all the time. He had a twisted sense of entitlement, that's why he made a huge fuss about it selling so cheap.
     
    swamp yankee likes this.
  17. cpm9ball

    cpm9ball CANNOT RE-MEMBER

    In other words, he wasn't paying attention.

    Chris
     
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  18. Detecto92

    Detecto92 Well-Known Member

    Correct. He was livid he did not get a chance to bid on it. So much he yelled at the auctioneer for letting it go so cheap.
     
    swamp yankee likes this.
  19. Taxidermist

    Taxidermist Collector of US/IL/RU/DE

    Isn't it up to bidders how cheap it goes, not auctioneer? No more bids = last bidder is a winner. Maybe I do not get the concept of that particular auction.

    I would have asked a check for $200, IF I was OK with letting the gold go.

    Weird story in general. :confused:
     
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  20. coinzip

    coinzip Well-Known Member

    What state did the auction take place in?
     
    swamp yankee likes this.
  21. Where were all the other bidders? In the Men's? I have never been to an auction in which gold would sell for that much below below spot. Even if I was not interested in it, I would have bid on it just to make a quick profit.
     
    swamp yankee likes this.
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