What's an auction and how does it work?

0:00Hey Bridget! Hey Ryan, are you almost ready to kick off season 11 of Million Vizillion? Almost, still tweaking the trailer, but I think it's gonna be the GOAT. The greatest of all time, am I right? Okay, okay, well we are almost ready to release the season, but GOAT. Huh, that reminds me of...do you remember that episode we did? Oh, I know what you're talking about. I've got an idea! Let's play it now! And all you listeners enjoy this episode and don't forget to follow Million Vizillion in your favorite app so you don't miss the whole season we're about to release. And tell us what you're most excited about in the comments section. Love it! Alright, let's play that episode! Who, are we almost done? Almost! We've got an entirely new season ahead of us and we just need to look through a few more videos. So, we're listening to our listeners and pick which ones to answer. How did we end up with so many bags full of questions out of paper cut?

1:03Well, our awesome listeners send in so many great questions after a while they do start to pile up. But I love reading these and we look at each and every without paper cut. Ooh, this is a good one. What is bankruptcy out of paper cut? Here's another good one. What is rental arbitrage out of paper cut? The out paper cut! Out paper cut! Out paper cut! Out paper cut! Out paper cut! Out paper cut! Oh, one really hurt! Wait, wait one second. No sudden moves. We need to open these envelopes slowly and carefully to avoid any further paper cuts. Okay, I'm gonna open this question slow and steady. Yes. Very slowly. Out paper cut! Welcome back to Million Vizillion. I'm Bridget.

2:04I'm Ryan and we help dollars make more sense. I've got an idea. Instead of opening another envelope, let's take a question that a listener sent us through our website, Marketplace.org-million. No paper cuts. Good idea. And while you do that, I'm gonna throw out all the paper in the house so we don't get any more paper cut. Hey, those are my old National Diographic magazines. My grandma gave me those. Sorry. If it can slice, no dice. If the paper can chop it, you gotta drop it. Okay, let's hear the question. My name is Taza Khan. I love and chop North Carolina. I would like to know about auction. 25, 15, 15, 75, and 75. I have been to the Allseans Air Force making it 75. How do they work? Can you explain the fast talking and the paddles? What is a silent auction? What is an online auction? Thank you. What a great idea for an episode, Taza Kaya. So an auction is where people compete with each other to buy something. Whoever offers the highest price or bid wins.

3:06And Ryan, did you know there are records of auctions going back to the year 500 BC? I wonder why Taza Kaya became curious about auctions. After hearing about the Oblangen's triple-logum and basketball card, throwing up for auction, I want to learn more about auctions. Yes, the Panini flawless triple-logum and featuring LeBron James. I've heard about that. There's a LeBron James, Panini sandwich. I want to eat that sandwich. No, the Panini flawless triple-logum and featuring LeBron James. Logo man cards are like baseball cards, but they're for basketball players. No one used to care about basketball cards, but then this Panini company decided to start making a few really fancy ones. People wanted them again. The one Hizakaya saw is being sold at auction today. I have an idea. Let's go to that auction and buy that card. That's a great idea. We can go to an auction, learn all about how they work, up close and personal like, and then maybe, oh, just maybe. Place the winning bid on that card. But Bridget, it is a good idea.

4:08Yeah, I'm agreeing with you. Let's go. Oh, wow. Okay, I'm not used to you agreeing with me. All right, carry on. Okay, here we are at the auction. A lot of people here today. All right, up next, let's 72, the Panini flawless triple-logum and card featuring LeBron James. Where shall we start the bidding? Watch this. I bid $5. Okay, thank you, sir, but we will start the bidding at $500,000. Do I hear $500,000 or above? $1 million. $1 million? I hear $1 million. Do I hear $1.5? $1.5? I hear $1.5 million. Does anyone want to challenge this bid? $1.7 million. $1.7 million.

5:09$1.7 million. $1,700,000. Do I hear $1.8? Okay, flag on the play. $1.8. This basketball card is a bit more expensive than I expected. $1.85. Yeah, I think a lot of people besides Asakaya are interested in this card and... $1.87. We got more money than us. I think the phrase is deeper pockets. $1.9. I got $37. No, $39 since in my Fanny Pack. We're getting there. $1.95. I bet you there's more change in my couch cushions. $2 million. Do you think they'd pause the auction so I can go home and check? I don't know, but when we come back, we'll find out the first part of Asakaya's question. $2.1 million. How does an auction work? Right after this. And now it's time for asking random kids not so random questions. Today's question is, if the tooth fairy retired, who should take over their job? A tooth fairy in training. Maybe one of the tooth fairy's friends.

6:09The old woman in the shoe and all her children. But when they were older. I think if my snake could fly, he could take over. Santa, with the Eastern money, because they kind of have some magic on their side. The kids. Wah-ah-ah, and we get on their money. I don't think there's too much to say, because they wouldn't know how to do it, but the two first friends. They know what the tooth fairy does. Maybe because that's paper teeth. That was Esther and Atlanta, Benjamin in Austin, Ava and Sebastian in Minnesota, and Joshua, Emory and Coralie in California. This has been asking random kids not so random questions. Welcome back to Million Vizillion. Today we're learning about auctions to help answer Hasakaya's many questions.

7:12Right now we're at an auction for a very rare basketball card. And sold for $2.4 million. Congratulations, lucky bitter, you are now the owner of the Penini, Flawless, Triple, Logo Man, LeBron, James Basketball Card. Ha-ha, yes! The card is mine. Dang it, it's 2.4 million. We were just $2.399,500 short. Yep, turns out we only have $500 in the Million Vizillion bank account, and it also turns out you need a lot more at a multi-million dollar auction. Sorry Hasakaya, we'll try again next time. And maybe that next time is now... Let's check out some of the other tents. Maybe they're auctioning off stuff we could actually afford. Oh, looks like over here, there are auctioning off classic cars, and over here there are auctioning off houses. Oh, and look over there. They're auctioning off livestock and animals. Maybe we'll find a nice small reasonably priced chicken.

8:16Bridget, I'm not liking this auction setup. Why don't they just tell you at the beginning how much something is going to go for? I don't know, maybe someone working at one of these other auctions, Gintella? Well, I think it's a racket. They could at least have a sign posted when I walk in that says, sir, you are not going to be able to afford this Penini card. Keep walking. Is this your first auction? Oh, is that obvious? Well, kinda. We're looking for someone who can tell us all about auctions. Do you know much about them since you're here? I'm Shaley, and I'm 16, and I have an Auction Nish license, and I could tell you everything you need to know. Step right up, step right up, don't be shy, folks. This is good old fashioned livestock auction. Amazing! This is great. We get a real expert to answer our questions. End up next is lot number 56. We're auctioned off here. This beautiful goat. He eats just about everything in Tarnation because he is a goat, but he is a sweet animal. And the opening bid to purchase this goat starts at $100 US dollars. What's an opening bid?

9:18An opening bid is set by the auctioneer. Now the auctioneer usually sets this low so the bidders get excited and start to participate more. Okay, that makes sense. It's like the first bid to start or open the auction. I hear $100. Do I hear $125? $125 is the lady with the beehive here. Do I hear $135? $135 is the man with a 10-gown hat. Do I hear $150? $150? Do I hear $155? Why do auctioneers talk fast like that? In this business, it's called a chant. So it gets the auction rolling. It's like it creates an experience for the buyer. So it's just like to get things in and out, like selling it fast. Shaley, do you know how to do the chant? I do. Can you do it for us? So we're going to start the bidding off at $5. Don't you want to do the bid? $155. Don't you want to do the bid? $155? $15, $155, $155, $15. $155, $155, $155, $155. Oh, that was great, Shaley. Yeah, it's kind of like a basic chant. And I see how it really creates this excitement and anticipation. But even with all this excitement, why doesn't a seller just set the price they want for something and wait until someone comes along who wants to pay it?

10:23experience and people definitely like they'll be engaged and they're more likely to raise their hand and it gives the item a Better shot getting like a higher price 155 155 I get that and I feel the excitement in this room The buyers are getting all excited trying to out bid each other. It's the feverish fun of buying something taking over 160 160 Ryan, why did you bid on that goat the pressure of all this fast talk chanting worked on me? And by the way, this isn't a ball spot. It's a cowlick, sir I hear 170 170 for this guy 160 going once 160 going twice 170 170 $170 to the young woman with a stunning red hair bridge it I got cut up in the excitement too. I'm not made of wood 170 going once 170 going twice wait hold on what does going once going twice mean Going once going twice I like to think about it is a warning to the buyers like saying hey Just to throw it out there the bid is ending soon so like think about it quickly if you want a bid or not

11:26We don't say every lot because it gets pretty repetitive and it slows down the auction But like if you could tell someone's just about to bid then we'll throw it in there. Oh in that case $200 $200 a most about man not a bold spot. Thank you $300 $300 to the red hand do I hear four four hundred dollars? Small day bouncing back with 400 do I hear five hundred? I am getting this goat. We've needed a mascot It's an investment five hundred dollars five hundred dollars do I hear six five hundred dollars going once five hundred Owned twice and sold to the red We won I can't believe it we want to go That was a thrill of a lifetime and for only five hundred dollars. I want to buy another animal I want to buy a whole zoo. I want to be able to say we bought a zoo. Oh, can you imagine a million? Vizillion zoo we can make t-shirts and it's oh Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, Ryan Do you realize what we've just done? $500 is all of our money. We can't buy this goat

12:29It'll destroy our budget for the rest of the season. Also, I didn't want to go. I wanted a nice cute chicken What are we gonna do with a goat? Excuse me. Excuse me. Sir Mr. auctioneer sir. Okay turns out we got a little carried away. We don't really need this goat We are going to need to return it Sir, ma'am, old sales are final Shaili, why won't they take the go back? So most auctions have under their contract is all sales final basically because they people like See it like in the next auction or like in the same sale. They're gonna do something strong with it Oh, so it's like a no take back. These kind of situation, huh? So we're stuck with the goat Man, it's really cool. You know so much about this stuff. How do you end up getting an auctioneer's license anyway? So my mom is in a state auctioneer So we've been doing that for a while and it's just like I want to do that. I want to talk fast because like firstly I want a kids could say they're doing it and it's a job that's definitely falling off That I think we should bring back more so I decided to go to auctioneer school just to kind of like bring that experience back to life

13:31That's so cool Thanks for all your help to grads on the goat guys. I'll see you later. Oh, it's just up to us to figure out this go problem then Well, we should probably name the goat something swab and elegant. What do you think of the name our mom? Hey, I got an idea. We can resell this goat and then you mean our mom Yes, our mom we can resell our mom at auction a different auction and hopefully get back our $500 heck if we find the right auction with the right crowd we might even end up making more money Bridget that's a brilliant idea. Excuse me. Have either of you seen my triple logo man card I just bought for 2.4 million dollars. I put it down for one second and now I can't find it. Oh, no Sorry pal. Haven't seen it. Me neither. Have you tried retracing your steps? Of course I've retraced my steps Have you asked if there's any security camera footage you can look at? Hmm good idea. Thanks. I'll ask around I Simply must get back my multi-million dollar Panini card. Okay. Good luck with that buddy

14:36Yeah, it's too bad for that guy. Well easy come easy go our mom stop eating my shoelaces anyway. I like our plan We're gonna resell this goat at auction when we come back Okay, welcome back to million bazillion just to get you up to speed Ryan and I are learning all about auctions today Thanks to a question from Hezekiah from North Carolina and long story short We got a little swept up in the excitement of bidding and we spent our entire bank account on one single goat Don't eat that Armand. That's my cell phone And we're currently looking for another auction where we can sell the goat to some other highest bidder Bridget look at this ad in the newspaper There's an auction going on later today at some place called Sotheby's We should take Armand the goat down there and together we can jack up the excitement in the room So everyone will want to compete to have the highest bids and be the winner. Are we sure this is the right crowd for a goat?

15:41Please Bridget Armand is beloved by all how could we go wrong Armand stop eating the newspaper Okay, let's go Howdy all May I help you who here wants to buy this here goat So this is Sotheby's we're known for auctioning off the very best of fine art and jewelry our customers expect the best If you have a lot to sell you'll have to wait your turn. Oh, okay, sorry All right, where was I this this stunning painting by modernist artist Mark Shagall bouquet or Paul Le Bouquet de ferre The current bid is a hundred thousand dollars do I hear 110? What's going on this place isn't fun like that other auction? It's kind of snooty and stuffy in here and they aren't auctioning off goats. They're auctioning off Le Bouquet Well, I guess there are different types of auctions maybe some are loud and fast paced and sell barnyard animals

16:46And I guess these quiet ones sell expensive stuff like art door jewelry So there's loud auctions and quiet auctions. Hey is a quiet auction the same thing as a silent auction How do those work does everybody bid through charades? Keep your voice down. We're all trying to keep up with the breakneck speed of this rowdy auction 135,000 dollars Leave my paddle alone. Our man stop eating that wooden paddle get away from me What's up with the wooden paddles everyone's waving around is the air conditioning broken? They all have numbers on them see People raise their paddle to make a bid and the auctioneer can use the paddle number to confirm who's bidding and who won now Please be quiet and keep that goes away from me. He just nipped at me. I'm so sorry 150,000 dollars do I hear 160? Yes? 160 160 from our telephone bidder do I hear 165 who's on the phone? Who are you talking to a wealthy bidder? I'm taking their instructions by phone

17:48Why would someone bid over the phone? I thought auctions were all about fun and excitement Don't bidders want to be in the room where the action is this auction house wants to let as many people as possible send in bits More people means more competition more competition means higher places That's why people love doing auctions online anyone in the world can place a bid My go that telephone let it go let it go you beast and So for a hundred and seventy one thousand dollars the lady in the frilly fancy hat I lost that auction because I was distracted by you two sorry Okay, we're up now. I got to get this crowd pumped for our month. I prepared a little song It's sort of up tempo country. I actually wrote it thinking this was gonna be more like that catalogs And but too late to turn back now. What we didn't discuss you performing a song Don't worry grab this guitar and follow along, but I can barely play guitar. I only know like one chord That's good enough the song is in G minor And just watch me for the changes Ryan

18:53Howdy y'all I'm Ryan and this here is a Goat named Armond He's up for auction today and well we've prepared a little song to get y'all excited about him You can spend your dough on ten or so fancy a diamond rings on a guitar or a sitar with Bucky golden strings you can bid to win for yourself and can a castle with a moat But why not try it up and buy this great here Billy goat Yee haw He's a real fine kid so place your bed and you better not bellow Wink your paddle like a baby's rattle to make your goat bed grow Won't you corral this barnyard pile with a bit that is the highest he's the goat to beat with the sweetest bleep But admittedly I'm biased Now grab your checkbook by the slip as I offer you this bidding tip bid big

19:56Bid loud this goat cannot be cowed He's going once this going twice but you want to own a goat so nice don't let the pound of like I have old quickly unravel your Billy goat owning dreams fortune favors the bowl like kings of all place your bids in the extremes Now should we start the bidding and I'm not kidding on a 70-figure note Yeah Now that you've heard him Don't you want to hurt him I'm on the Billy Yeesh tough crowd okay maybe the song was a bad idea since everyone knows I'm the one selling the goat You're gonna have to drive up the price of the goat Bridget It's the only way no matter what anyone bid you got a bit a little more That's risky Ryan would have nobody bids more than I do and I end up being the highest bitter and I get stuck spending even more money on this goat Hmm good point. I guess just try to out bid all but one bitter the highest bitter so you don't win the goat

21:01Good luck guessing who that is all right up next is lot 25 Healthy Billy goat named Armband named Armond Um Can we start the bidding at I don't know $40 how much does a goat cost $40 that's outrageous for this meteor among men of goats $40 $40 to the very eager young woman do I hear 45 45 $45 from the fancy gentleman do I hear 50 Harold what will you ever do with a goat a home is so Frightfully quiet I could use a friend $50 $50 do I hear 55 55 it's working Bridget time to make a big move $60 do I have 60 $600 and my $600 bid from the very eager woman do I hear 650 no no other bids for the goat Oh, no my worst fear I drove the price up too high and what am I even doing we don't have this money We shouldn't be bidding more than we can afford

22:04$600 going once $600 going twice Everybody stop the auction Goat eight my panini flawless triple logo man LeBron James basketball card Excuse me sir. Who are you? I bought a basketball card for $2.4 million in an auction this morning and that goat ate it I just saw the security camera footage of it happening There's a 2.4 million dollar basketball card in its protective plastic covering inside the belly of that goat right now Sometime within the next 24 hours That goat is gonna have to You know and the card will come out our mom does gonna poop out the card yeah I was trying to avoid saying the word poop, but that's what's going to happen one million dollars One million dollars for our mom the goat do I hear 1.1 Yes, man 1.1 1.1 do I have 1.2 it's working the price is going way up because everyone wants the basketball card

23:08What are mom poops it out 1.7 I knew our mom was a special goat 1.9 million do I have two million Hey, I got an idea. Why don't we just place one more bid on our mom? I know there's no way we can pay for him Even if we win him Million dollar 2.1 million dollars from the bullspot man. Do I have 2.2 2.2 now stop it? That's enough 2.3 2.4 2.4 million dollars do I have 2.5 2.4 going once 2.4 going twice 2.5 million and 500 now please no more bids would anyone like to place a higher bid going once going twice? So The man who interrupt to the auction and drove up the price of this goat thank you sir we will return right off of this break Hi, I'm Ajay from Lawrence, Kansas with some money history trivia Did you know that the largest bill ever printed was 100,000 dollars?

24:10The 100,000 dollar bill was created in 1934 during the Great Depression It was just for making official transactions between federal reserve banks and never given out for public use Welcome back to million bazillion well bad news after assorting through all the particulars turns out We don't get to keep the 2.5 million for selling the goat because technically our mom was carrying around stolen property So the card and the money goes back to the original buyer At least the guy who bought the card agreed to pay us 500 dollars for our mom to because he is after all a really great goat Congratulations to you too made for quite an exciting auction. I can't remember ever being so excited Really? Okay, I guess it was a fun adventure and we did learn a ton about how auctions worked, didn't we? Yeah, would have been nice to learn a lot and also get 2.5 million dollars Well, I say that's up to Hezekiah and now we know

25:13Auctions are a style of buying and selling things and they've been around for centuries Auctions bring together as many people as possible who all want to buy the same thing And then they compete with each other to be the winner by the way There are a ton of different styles of auctions We're going to have more all about that at the show page for this episode on our website marketplace.org slash million Well Bye for now, Armand We promise we'll send you letters if you promise not to eat them, but who are we kidding you probably will your rascal Sorry, we can't stick around and Watch a poop out that two and a half million dollar basketball card That's right, Armand so many cool boobs will never get to see a take little buddy small boobs Big boobs BOOPS filled with gold and fancy jewels You can learn a lot about a goat from its birth Ladies and gentlemen up next for auction is a complete collection of early national geographic issues

26:18Miraculously found in a dumpster early this morning each issue is appraised it over $5,000 So we'll start bidding for this 100 volume collection at $500,000 do I hear 500,000 $550,000 Ryan what I told you we should have kept those Thanks for listening to this episode of million bazillion if you have a question you want answered You can send it to us at our website marketplace.org slash million and while you're at our website You can sign up for the million bazillion email newsletter We'll send you a note every time we have a new episode like the one we're sharing next week all about recessions But for this episode all about auctions we want to give a big thank you to Donda, Cordova and Shalee for telling us everything they know true professionals Million bazillion is brought to you by marketplace from American public media

27:20This episode was written and hosted by me Ryan Perez Bridget Modner is my co-host and the director of podcasts at marketplace And we heard the talented voices of Sabri Beneshore Kimberly Adams Courtney Bergseeker Francesca Levy drew Jostad Chris Julin Becca Weinman and Catherine Winter Jasmine Romero is our editor Courtney Bergseeker is our producer Nilo Shabondi is our intern our sound designer is Chris Julin Becca Weinman mixed this episode our theme music was created by Wonderly And the music for our mom the Billy Golt was specially composed and performed by Andrew Shaever Francesca Levy is the executive director of digital at marketplace Neil Scarborough is the VP and general manager Million bazillion is funded in part by the Scyse Sims foundation partnering with organizations and people working for a better and more just future since 1985 And special thanks to the Ran Zeta family charitable fund and next gen personal finance We're providing the startup funding for this podcast and continuing to support marketplace

28:23And our work to make younger audiences smarter about the economy If million bazillion is helping your family have important conversations about money Consider making a one-time donation today at marketplace.org slash give million and thanks for your support I'm Lee Hawkins host of must be the money a podcast for marketplace each week I speak with inspiring entrepreneurs and business leaders about their lived experiences And they share tangible insights to help guide your path to success Here from icons like Angelica Nwandu Van Lathan Angela Yee Matt Barnes and more about how to seize opportunity manage money and meet challenges with resilience listen to must be the money Wherever you get your podcasts