Recently there were two households being taped in the Austin area. The auction for the first household went great, very exciting. But, as frequent auction participants, it was easy for several of us to notice a planted shill raising the bids for the second household. During the exit interview, the woman was heard bragging about that as well as having her father-in-law online bidding up the items. The reputation of both the auctioneer and the auction house is impeccable. The deceit was by members of the household and possibly by members of the production crew. This is a highly illegal act and formal complaints have been lodged with the Texas State Attorney. I will watch for the first family but the second should never air. I really feel that HGTV and Cash in the Attic owes all that participated in the auction that night a very large appology. Any comments?

Wow! That's a pretty serious charge, but if it's on tape there might be a case. I was at an auction once when a member of the consigner's family started bidding and the auctioneer stopped the auction and announced none of that lot would be sold and for the consigner to see him after the auction. Some people honestly don't know it's illegal and the auctioneer probably didn't have a clue. HGTV should be put on notice though.

Pitiful!! Another reason for me not to like this US version of the show, as if it weren't corny and hokie enough as it is now it's playing dirty pool.

ginger

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Ginger-HoneysuckleRidge,

I'm from North Central Illinois and love auctions having started attending as a small child.
The new trend is for the auctioneer to announce at estate sales that we might see family members bidding on items as it was an estate sale and all items had to be sold and the proceeds of the sale divided up. It was their only chance to keep beloved family items. It does put other bidders at a great disadvantage in that they tend to open the bid at a much higher amount then you'd expect the auction to end at. Instead of going through that with my mothers estate I bought the entire estate outright, every last thing. I couldn't stand the thought that Grama's wedding vase could end up with some stranger.
But, on the other hand, I have seen a local auctioneer allow shill bids - and I'll never set foot at another of their auctions again.
So an honest auctioneer, in my opinion, will share the fact that family members may be bidding.

What happens if the "shill" person who is bidding on the item wins then? I assume they are not serious bidders but just trying to up the price, but if they win, do they have to buy the item?

The shill or the auctioneer will be responsible for purchasing the item.
At the auction I mentioned that I no longer attend I was bidding against the shill who was stuck with the item. They came up later and asked if I wanted the item at my last bid price (once you subtract the auctioneers percentage it would of been breaking even for them). I told them no thanks lol

At the Austin auction, when the shill got stuck because I stopped bidding, she told the person next to her, "Da**, I didn't want that junk." It just happens that the person she said that to is a very good friend of mine. I want to stress once again, the auctioneer and auction house is above board. I wanted to let HGTV know about this but could not find a way to contact them. I had hoped someone would monitor this message board and pass it on but that has not happened.