| tions are public sales of goods, conducted by an | | | | centuries goods were often sold "by the candle"; a |
| officially approved auctioneer. He asks the crowd | | | | short candle was lit by the auctioneer, and bids could |
| assembled in the auction-room to make offers, or | | | | be made while it stayed alight. |
| "bids" ,for the various items on sale. He encourages | | | | An auction is usually advertised beforehand with full |
| buyer to bid higher figures, and finally names the | | | | particulars of the articles to be sold and where and |
| highest bidder as the buyer of the goods. This is called" | | | | when they can be viewed by prospective buyers. If |
| knocking down" the goods, for Bulgari Replica( the | | | | the advertisement cannot give full details, catalogues |
| bidding ends when the auctioneer bangs a small | | | | are printed, and each group of goods to be sold |
| hammer on a table at which he stands. This is often | | | | together, called a "lot", is usually given a number. The |
| set on a raised platform called a rostrum. | | | | auctioneer need not begin with lot 1 and continue in |
| The ancient Romans probably invented sales by | | | | numerical order; he may wait until he registers the fact |
| auction, and the English word comes from the Latin | | | | that certain dealers are in the room and then produce |
| auction, meaning "increase". The Romans usually sold in | | | | the lots they are likely to be interested in. The |
| this way the spoils taken in war; these sales were | | | | auctioneer's services are paid for in the form of a |
| called null haste, meaning" under the spear", a spear | | | | percentage of the price the goods are sold for. The |
| being stuck in the ground as a signal for a crowd to | | | | auctioneer therefore has a direct interest in pushing up |
| gather. In England in the eighteenth and nineteenth | | | | the bidding as high as possible. |