A Reserve Auction is where property may be withdrawn from the auction up to the point  in time where the auctioneer has accepted a high bid and declared it to be sold.

A Reserve Auction (subject to confirmation) is a derivative of the Reserve Auction. The  Seller retains the right to accept or reject the high bid within a specified time. It’s exactly the same as Reserve Auction but the sale price is subject to confirmation by the seller before the sale is finalized. There is no risk to the seller as seller has to confirm selling price. Subject to confirmation auctions are sometimes used for auctioning real property, high dollar heavy construction equipment, or judicial sales requiring court or other governmental agency approval of the highest bid.

A Minimum Bid Auction is an auction where a minimum bid is published and the auctioneer  will accept a bid at or above that bid level. There is reduced risk to the seller as the minimum  price must be obtained in order to consummate the sale. Property may be withdrawn from sale up to the point in time where the auctioneer has accepted a bid and declared it to be sold.

An Absolute Auction Is an auction ‘without reserve’ and the most risky for the seller. It  is an auction where the property is sold to the highest bidder regardless of price. Once the auction has begun, the property, by law, may not be withdrawn unless there are no bids within a reasonable time.

LOTS are any grouping of items the auctioneer uses to distinguish and offer the items for sale. LOTS are usually assigned LOT numbers to identify what property is being  offered.

An auctioneer might have a dining room set consisting of a table and six chairs and he decides

to sell each piece separately for a total of seven Lots.

Pieces may also be combined into lots, however the auctioneer thinks desirable. Under a Combination Lot the table and chairs would be offered as one Lot.

An Auctioneer might have five paintings and expensive silverware pieces that he offers as 

‘All For One Money’. The highest bidder would get both the expensive silverware and the 

paintings.

An Auctioneer would offer (but not sell) the items ‘Two Ways’, individually and collectively. 

Again using the five paintings and expensive silverware as an example, the Auctioneer 

would offer the items as separate Lots and then offer them collectively selecting the results 

that produce the highest price obtainable for the seller.

An Auctioneer might have similar items, for example, ten different paintings, that will be 

auctioned ‘Times The Money’. Under this scenario the winning bidder will be bidding on 

one of the paintings but will be obligated to take all ten at ten times the amount of their 

winning bid.

Auctioneers will sometimes offer similar items by ‘Bidder’s Choice’. This means that the 

items are put up as a variable lot. The bidders compete on that variable lot and the highest 

bidder gains control. The high bidder then has the choice of selecting one or more pieces 

paying his high bid for each piece selected. If the bidder selects more than one item, the 

amount owed is calculated identical to ‘Times The Money’. If any items are left after the 

high bidder has chosen, the remaining items are offered again.

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