The History of Auctions

The exact date auctions were first organized is not known; however, it is generally accepted that auctions were recorded as early as 500 B.C. The Babylonians held wedding auctions annually where women were sold for the purpose of marriage. Of course, the most beautiful women received the most vigorous bidding and the prices paid were high. Owners of the less attractive women had to add dowries or other monetary offers in order to make the sale and the price could actually be a negative figure for the buyer.

The Romans were the first to organize sales of goods at auctions. They used the auction process to liqudate personal property as well as selling items seized in wars with rivals. Auctions were held at the “Atrium” for the purpose of selling the “spoils of war” for the soldiers after a military victory. Business agents were said to have accompanied warriors into battle in order to facilitate and promote expected sales.

The Chinese used auctions to sell surplus property to raise money for religious leaders and temples. It appears they used a similar process in planning and managing a sale as we do today.
During the 15th century, King Henry VII of England instituted some of the earliest auction laws, including auction licenses. In the 1600’s the British organized regular auctions of books and art at “public outcry”. Auctions were held in taverns and coffee houses in the seventeenth century in Great Britian and announcements of sales devoted to land appeared in the London Evening Post in 1739.

The methods of the English came to America with the English immigrants in the 1700’s; however, the economy was struggling and there was very little place for auctions and auctioneers. It appears the only time auctions were necessary was when property needed to be sold to satisfy debts for nonpayment of taxes. The stigma of selling at “forced sales” attached itself to the auction business for centuries. In addition, slavery did not help the reputation of auctioneers. Public sales of slaves helped fuel the largest slave market in the western world. Selling slaves at “public outcry” began in Virginia and quickly spread south.

After the Civil War, auctioneers traveled to larger cities and ports to sell goods off merchant ships, dispose of damaged goods and sell estates. Auctioneers sold anything they could get and were successful in making money, but not in helping their reputation or image.

The auction business continued in the same rut through the 1800’s and the first half of the 1900’s. After World War II, auctions started to make great strides when businessmen began to see an opportunity to use auctions as an alternate marketing tool. The sale of goods and real estate at private sales boomed in the post war period; in fact there was a need in many cases to move real estate and property faster than the private market would allow. Businessmen in business suits and ties began to nurture the auction business and raise the reputation of the auctioneers to a higher degree. By this time auctioneers had business links to banks, attorneys, accountants, the court system, government agencies and the public.

Today, auctions fill the buying and selling needs of millions of people around the world and have become part of the American way of life. There are auction houses, local auctions, private auctions, estate auctions and internet auctions just to mention a few. Auctions are recognized as an excellent means of selling goods, services and real estate to buyers who are willing to pay the highest price.