AUCTIONEER. A person authorized by law to sell the goods of others at public sale; one who conducts a public sale or auction; I Com. v. Harnden, 19 Pick. (Mass.) 482. He is the agent of the seller; Ans. Contr. 346 ; 3 Term 148; Boinest v. Leignez, 2 Rich. (S. C.) 464; and of the buyer, for some purpos es at least ; 4 Ad. & E. 792; 3 Ves. & B. 57; McComb v. Wright, 4 Johns. Ch. (N. Y.) 659; Trustees of First Baptist Church of Ithaca v. Bigelow, 16 Wend. (N. Y.) 28; Cleaves v. Foss, 4 Greenl. (Me.) 1; Inhabit ants of Alna v. Plummer, id. 258; Brent v. Green, 6 Leigh (Va.) 16; 2 Kent 539; Walk er v. Herring, 21 Graft. (Va.) 678, 8 Am. Rep. 616; Harvey V. Stevens, 43 Vt. 653; White v. Watkins, 23 Mo. 423; [1902] 2 Ch. 266 ; up to the moment of sale he is agent for the vendor exclusively ; it is only when the bidder becomes the purchaser that . the agency for the buyer begins; Benj. Sales § 270. He is the agent of both parties at a public sale within the Statute of Frauds; 7 East 558; Pugh v. Chesseldine, 11 Ohio 109, 37 Am. Dec. 414; Harvey v. Stevens, 43 Vt. 655; Benj. Sales § 268. And see 16 Harv. L. Rev. 220, where it is remarked that the case where an agent acts for both parties at a sale is in itself anomalous; but not if he sells goods at a private sale; 1 H. & C. 484. The memorandum must be made at the time of the sale; Horton v. McCarty, 53 Me. 394; Smith v. Arnold, 5 Mas. 414, Fed. Cas. No. 13,004. An auctioneer employed to sell goods in his possession ordinarily has authority to receive payment for them, but if he acts as a mere crier or broker for a principal who retains possession, he would not have such authority; Benj. Sales § 741. He has a spe cial property in the goods, and may bring an action for the price; 7 Taunt. 237; Beller
v. Block, 19 Ark. 566; Hulse v. Young, 16 Johns. (N. Y.) 1; see 5 M. & W. 645; 5 B. & Ad. 568; and has a lien upon them for the charges of the sale, his commission, and the auction-duty ; Harlow v. Sparr, 15 Mo. 184; 2 Kent 536.
Where auctioneers were employed to sell goods upon the terms that they were to be paid a lump sum by way of commission and were further to be paid all expenses, they were not entitled to charge the owner with the gross amounts of printing and advertis ing bills (where they had received discounts from printers and proprietors, in the honest belief that they were entitled to have such discounts allowed them) ; L. R. [1905] 1 K.
B. 1.
He must obtain the best price be fairly can, and is responsible for damages arising from a failure to pursue the regular course of business, or from a want of skill ; 3 B. & Ald. 616; and where he sells goods as the 'Property of one not the owner, is liable for their value to the real owner ; 7 Taunt. 237; Hoffman v. Carow, 20 Wend. (N. Y.) 21; Allen v. Brown, 5 Mo. 323; and if he sells goods with notice that they were obtained by fraud of another, he is liable to the real owner; Morrow Shoe Mfg. Co. v. Shoe Co., 57 Fed. 685, 6 C. C. A. 508, 24 L. R. A. 417. See Hutchinson v. Gordon, 2 Harr. (Del.) 179. 1 or false representation or breach of con tract, the vendee of land sold at auction has a right of action against the vendor as well as the auctioneer to recover a deposit paid at the time of sale; Mahon v. Liscomb, 19 N. Y. Supp. 224. See AGENT ; AUCTION; Bin