Buying a car at auction is inherently risky. Beyond the potential for bidding wars and the as-is nature of sales, the real power is held by the auction house, and sometimes it’s not wielded with the utmost discretion. Case in point: Classic car dealer Bobby Adams claims that at the Mecum auction in Monterey on Aug. 16, the auctioneer sold a car out from under him and that it was all caught on camera.
Here’s what the video appears to depict: With a beautiful Lincoln Continental Mark II on the red carpet, Adams puts in a bid of $31,000, and after some waffling, the seller takes the reserve off the car. With that done, the auctioneer appears to drop the gavel and say “sold.” However, the auctioneer then appears to re-open bidding on the Lincoln and it goes up to $33,000.
Unsurprisingly, Adams was upset by this and responded in a way many of us would, to which the auctioneer asks “Were you here for the morning announcement?” After other bidders voice their displeasure over how things went down, the video cuts to a shot of a man in a Mecum shirt claiming that the auctioneer “did not say sold” even though it certainly sounds like he did on the video. So what on earth is going on here?
@bobbyadamsworld They stole our car!! ???? What would you do? #classiccar ♬ original sound – bobbyadamsworld
Well, let’s start by hitting the books. As it turns out, California Commercial Code section 2328 states that bidding can open back up after the gavel drops, but only under certain conditions. Here’s what the law actually says:
A sale by auction is complete when the auctioneer so announces by the fall of the hammer or in other customary manner. Where a bid is made while the hammer is falling in acceptance of a prior bid the auctioneer may in his discretion reopen the bidding or declare the goods sold under the bid on which the hammer was falling.
So, the big question now is whether or not saying “sold” (which is how it appeared in the clipl) after the gavel dropped on the $31,000 bid would constitute declaring the Lincoln as sold. While many auction houses would call it done, Mecum may argue that a last-minute bid was placed, and under that circumstance, bidding could be reopened. If that rubs you the wrong way, there’s probably a reason for that. As for that morning announcement, when it came to declaring a sale, Mecum’s declaration at the start of the auction only stated “know what you’re bidding on, know what you’re buying because fall of the hammer and the auctioneer announces ‘sold,’ ownership transfers, it’s then your vehicle.”
While it’s sometimes hard to piece together exactly what happened from social media clips, Mecum doesn’t just happen behind closed doors. It broadcasts all of its auctions, which means we also get to see the incident from the view of the official cameras. The auctioneer appears to declare the Lincoln sold after dropping the hammer on the $31,000 bid, and the chyron on the official video feed appears to show the car as being sold at $31,000.
Understandably, this situation has caused some uproar. One TikTok user commented, “Mecum just lost a LOT of credibility,” while another commented “one of the crookedest things I have seen on an auction block in 40 years.” Over on Instagram, sentiments are much the same, with one user commenting:
So do you think the backlash the auction is getting worth the extra 2k they got which is what? Like $500 more to the auction if that. I swear I’ll never understand how people process things. ???? like now look at the damage that’s been done for not setting the rules you made for the auction.
We reached out to Mecum regarding this incident, but the company has not yet returned our requests for comment. As it turns out, Adams also claims not to have heard anything from Mecum as of Thursday. In any case, between auction house commissions and live incidents like this, it’s not surprising to see digital auction houses like Bring A Trailer and Cars & Bids becoming the new establishment. While those platforms certainly aren’t perfect, the way they work means the situation seen here likely wouldn’t have played out the same for cars sold exclusively online.
Top graphic image: Mecum
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The post Big Car Auction House Mecum Allegedly Reopened Bidding After Declaring A Car Sold And Now Everyone’s Mad appeared first on The Autopian.
