Auctions have been going on for over 2,000 years. Since auctioneers started to use the Internet for online and simulcast auctions, contract law has remained largely the same, but perception has obviously changed.
For instance, in a live auction, there is essentially no “bid history” so there’s only the high bid recorded. In an online auction, the entire bidding history is there — so do all those bids “exist?” Actually, live or online, only the highest bid exists — in that, all those other bids (offers) don’t exist.
Bid calling (live or online) is a series of contingent contracts as we discussed here: https://mikebrandlyauctioneer.wordpress.com/2023/03/28/yes-auction-bid-calling-or-online-creates-contracts/. Once a higher bid is made, the prior bid (contract) is discharged.
Therefore live, online, or both, just because you know the prior bidder — or see those prior bids — they don’t exist. Those prior bids were offers that were accepted but voided by a higher bid. In the case of a high bidder retracting his/her bid, there are no bids.
However, in the event of retraction, online platforms will typically put the prior bidder in — even though that bidder did not consent to such — and state law suggests otherwise. We discussed this chaotic part of online bidding here: https://mikebrandlyauctioneer.wordpress.com/2021/04/06/sold-to-the-previous-online-bidder/.
Online you can see the bid history, but know that the high bid is the only bid that exists. Incidentally, that’s why some call what you’re looking at as “bid history” — it’s in the past, not the present. Bidders make offers and auctioneers accept offers, and not the other way around.
Mike Brandly, Auctioneer, CAI, CAS, AARE has been an auctioneer and certified appraiser for over 30 years. His company’s auctions are located at Mike Brandly, Auctioneer, Brandly Real Estate & Auction, and formerly at Goodwill Columbus Car Auction. He serves as Distinguished Faculty at Hondros College, Executive Director of The Ohio Auction School, and an Instructor at the National Auction Association’s Designation Academy and Western College of Auctioneering. He has served as faculty at the Certified Auctioneers Institute held at Indiana University and is approved by The Supreme Court of Ohio for attorney education.
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