> It's a totally predictable, well regulated, very transparent process. No it's not. - Ghost bidders and staff posing as buyers on auction day aren't uncommon

> It's a totally predictable, well regulated, very transparent process. No it's not. - Ghost bidders and staff posing as buyers on auction day aren't uncommon with smaller outfits. - They can list the property at a range of say 1-1.2M but the reserve on the property might be 1.5M. They waste everyone's time doing this, and you don't know until auction day - and that's only IF the property meets it. - They will negotiate with buyers after hammer down, technically the "right to negotiate" goes to the highest bidder - however there's no laws, and I've seen every single agency in Melbourne do this - will go around and gauge what people are willing to go up to. They'll then instruct the vendor to accept/not accept an amount. This is why they have multiple staff on auction day.