32 BULLETIN 1362, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
who attend to bid. To complete an auction sale there must be a 
bidder, the property must be struck off or knocked down, and the 
person to whom it is struck off must complete his purchase by com- 
plying with the terms of the sale. In conducting the sale it is part 
of the auctioneer's duty to invite and excite the competition of 
bidding, and to dispose of the property to the highest bidder. Some 
measure of discretion is vested in him as to the precise methods to 
be pursued in attaining that object, but it should be made in ac- 
cordance with the laws governing public sales. A sale by auction 
is not governed by the strict rules applicable to formal contracts 
made with deliberation after ample opportunity to investigate and 
inquire. 
CONDITIONS OF SALE 
The owner of property offered for sale at auction has the right 
to prescribe the manner, conditions, and terms of sale. But in the 
absence of conditions prescribed by the seller an auctioneer may use 
his discretion in prescribing such teims of sale as will exclude 
puffers and fraudulent bidders and secure the confidence of honest 
purchasers, and he may even postpone the sale. 
PRINTED CONDITIONS 
Printed conditions under- which a sale proceeds are binding on 
both buyer and seller, and can not be varied, although they may be 
explained by verbal statements of the auctioneer made at the time of 
the sale. 
NOTICE OF CONDITIONS 
The conditions of a public sale, announced by the auctioneer at 
the time and place of the sale, are binding upon a purchaser, whether 
he knew them or not. So also, where it is the custom to post up the 
conditions in the auctioneer's room and the auctioneer announces 
that the conditions are as usual, a purchaser is bound by the condi- 
tions, whether he sees them or not. 
BIDS AND BIDDERS 
A bid is an offer by an intending purchaser to pay a designated 
price for property which is to be sold at auction. A bidder is one 
who makes an offer for property on sale at auction. 
A bid may be made in words uttered aloud in the hearing of the 
bystanders or spoken privately to the auctioneer, or by writing in 
words or figures, or it may be made by a wink or nod, or in any mode 
by which the bidder signifies his willingness and intention to give a 
particular sum or price for the property offered for sale. In the 
absence of instructions or limitations to the contrary an auctioneer 
ordinarily should accept all bids. But he is not bound to accept all 
bids as a matter of course. He may refuse to accept bids from 
minors, from insolvents, or from persons irresponsible, either finan- 
cially or mentally, from persons offering their bids in bad faith, or 
from a person making but a trifling advance in his bid over the bid 
last announced. 
Where the owner of the property to be sold publicly announces 
that no bid less than a designated amount will be received, the 
auctioneer may reject a bid that falls below that amount. 
