Auctions(拍卖)arepublicsalesofgoodsconductedbyanofficiallyapprovedauctioneer．Heasksthecrowdgatheredintheauctionroomtomakeoffersor“bids”forthevariousitemsonsale．Heencouragesbuyerstobidhigherfiguresandfinallynamesthehighestbidderasthebuyerofthegoods．

Almostallgoodsofvariousqualitiesaresoldbyauction．Amongthesearecoffeeskinswoolteafruitvegetablesandwines．Auctionsalesarealsousefulforlandandpropertyantique(古董)，furniturepicturesrarebooksoldchina(瓷器)，andworksofart．

Anauctionisusuallyadvertisedbeforehandwithafulldescriptionofthearticlestobesoldandwhereandwhentheycanbeviewedbypossiblebuyers．Iftheadvertisementcannotgivefulldetailscatalogues(目录)areprintedandeachgroupofgoodstobesoldtogethercalleda“lot”isusuallygivenanumber．TheauctioneerneednotbeginwithLot1andcontinuewithLot2Lot3andsoon;hemaywaituntilheseescertaindealersintheroomandthenproducesthelotstheyarelikelytobeinterestedin．Theauctioneerthereforehasadirectinterestinpushingupthebiddingashighaspossible．

Theauctioneermustknowquiteaccuratelythecurrentmarketvaluesofthegoodsheissellingandheshouldbeacquainted(熟悉)withregularbuyersofsuchgoods．Hewillnotwastetimebystartingthebiddingtoolow．Hewillalsoencouragetherivalsamongbuyerstobidagainsteachotherinordertogetahighprice．Itislargelyinhisadvicethatasellerwillfixa“reserved”pricethatisapricebelowwhichthegoodscannotbesold．Eventhebestauctioneerhoweverfindsitdifficulttostopa“knock－out”(连裆拍货)，becausedealersillegallyarrangedbeforehandnottobidagainsteachotherbutchooseoneofthemastheonlybidderinthehopeofbuyinggoodsatverylowprices．Ifsucha“knock－out”succeedstherealauctionsaletakesplaceprivatelyafterwardsamongthedealers．