AMERICAN FRUIT AND PRODUCE AUCTIONS 19 
PRICE-REALIZED CATALOGUES 
Price-realized catalogues are issued by most companies to auction 
receivers after the sale in sufficient quantity to enable them to sup- 
ply one to each shipper. These catalogues contain a record of the 
prices at which each line was sold and the prices paid for samples 
and broken packages. Some companies issue price-realized cata- 
logues for only a portion of the goods sold, and these are issued 
only when requested by the receiver. A typical price-realized cata- 
logue is shown in Figure 10. 
ADVERTISEMENT OF SALE 
Sales are advertised in such manner as local conditions seem to 
require. The trade publications, newspapers, and printed bulletins 
published by the auction companies are the usual means employed 
to inform the trade of the supplies to be sold. Some auction com- 
panies issue no announcement in advance of the sales, and the 
buyers do not know what is being offered until they arrive at the 
display room. 
THE SALE 
All auction sales are open to the public. In starting the sale, the 
auctioneer announces the line or lines offered and calls for bids. 
He generally accepts 5 -cent increases. In New York City in order 
to expedite business usually no bid smaller than 12y 2 cents is recog- 
nized in selling citrus fruits, but 5-cent bids are taken on deciduous 
fruits. In some instances the increases may be reduced to 2y 2 cents, 
as in the sales by telegraph conducted by the f. o. b. auctions. In 
some auctions it is customary for the auctioneer to call for bids 
at a price somewhat above the prevailing market, to work down 
until he gets an offer, and then to accept competing bids in the usual 
manner. 
Occasionally the sale of a car or a line is influenced more or less 
by "puffers." A puffer is a person who, without having any inten- 
tion to purchase, is employed by the seller at an auction to raise the 
price by fictitious bids, thereby increasing competition among the bid- 
ders while he himself is secured from risk by a secret agreement 
with the seller that he shall not be bound by his bids. These ficti- 
tious bidders are also known as " by-bidders " or " cappers." At 
times receivers bid on their own cars in order to run up the price of 
the commodity, although not all auction companies will counte- 
nance this practice. If by-bidding is discovered, most auctioneers 
will resell the goods at once, but the receiver retains the privilege 
of "pulling" or withdrawing from sale any line or car of his 
offerings which in his judgment is likely to be sacrificed at the 
sale. Where the owner of the goods or his representative announces 
before the sale that no bid less than a designated amount will be 
received, the auctioneer may reject any bid that is less than that 
amount. 
The auctions exercise a considerable influence as an indicator of 
market values. The auction prices are made public immediately 
after the sale by the trade publications, by newspapers, and by the 
