If you are paying attention to auctions either as a seller or a buyer and you had only started doing so from 2020, then the chances are that you have not fully experienced what the auction room was like before then.

Now don’t get me wrong, there are one or two (well more than that) auctioneers who are still offering in-room auctions. However, these are nothing compared to the pre-2020 in room auctions.

In this article, I will share with you some (hopefully) fun and engaging stories that I had experienced not only as someone who worked in the auction industry, but also as a buyer and a seller.

The inspiration for this article came from the Essential Information Groups (EIG’s) event on 2 May, aptly named ‘The Auction Room’. So, at the end of this article, I will also share some of my key takeaways from that event in hopes that you too will find it of value.

Night Nurse
This story was the first real life example where I realised how easy it is for someone to make a very simple, yet very costly mistake. Spoiler alert, the cause of this mistake was not reading/ understanding the information given in the auction catalogue.

The property being sold was in Romford. In the catalogue the property was described as ‘a two bedroom maisonette within an end of terrace building arranged over ground and first floors’. Can you guess where the buyer made their mistake? No, fair enough.

Imagine for a moment that you are a Nurse that works nights. You have a couple of kids and have rushed to the auction from a week worth of night shifts. Now, if it’s not too much of a push, imagine that you speed read the property description, not knowing (or asking beforehand) what a maisonette is and attend the auction to bid…assuming you are buying a two bedroom end of terrace house.