Looking for a prop to drive up the bidding price during an auction is something that almost every auction house will do, especially in the auction of some important items, the prop is indispensable.
However, there are advantages and disadvantages to the use of pallets. If used well, the transaction price of the items auctioned is likely to increase exponentially, allowing the auction house to obtain generous returns.
But if it is not used well, or if the auctioneer fails to understand the auctioneer's intention and no one follows up on the bidding after shouting a sky-high price, the auction house will have to bear the cost of breaking the contract.
Most of the auction items in the auction house are obtained from private hands. If the auction is completed at the auction site and the auctioneer breaks the contract, he will have to pay a break fee of about 10% to 20% of the transaction price.
Generally speaking, everyone who participates in the auction must pay a certain deposit, and the penalty for breach of contract will be deducted from this deposit. However, if the auction house itself arranges the entrustment, it will naturally be paid by the auction house.
Therefore, Ye Tian's few words made Henry break into a cold sweat. If Ye Tian stopped bidding, he would have to pay more than 100,000 Hong Kong dollars in breach of contract for the transaction price of one million Hong Kong dollars.
You know, Henry is not a full-time auctioneer at Christie's.
When he comes to host this auction, he will draw a commission based on a certain percentage of the total transaction amount. He also arranged the commission himself. If something goes wrong, he needs to pay the money himself.
Wilson, who was sitting next to the chief executive, looked extremely ugly at this time. He cursed in his heart: "Isn't this fool known as the number one auctioneer in the auction world? How could he make such a mistake?"
As the president of Christie's Asia affairs, he was certainly aware of Henry's tricks, but he didn't expect that Henry would actually set his sights on his old boss's son.
This is not the most important thing. The important thing is that the young man is not a fuel-efficient lamp. If Ye Tianzhen stops bidding, today's auction will become a joke in the industry.
Although these people in the venue may not necessarily understand Henry's methods, Wilson knew that he could not hide it from people in the industry. Perhaps after the auction is over, the fact that Christie's hired a consignor to take the auction will spread around the world.
"If the gentleman on plate No. 1 is not interested in this book, then I think I should congratulate that gentleman."
At this time, Henry was still trying to calm down, staring at Ye Tian closely, and said: "One million Hong Kong dollars once, one million Hong Kong dollars twice..."
Henry was betting, but this was the most difficult auction he had ever bet on. The sweat coming out of his back had completely soaked his clothes. He really couldn't tell whether the young man could bid again.
"Two million Hong Kong dollars!"
Just when Henry was about to shout the word "deal", Ye Tian finally raised the number plate in his hand, looked at Henry with a half-smile, and said, "Mr. Henry, you can raise the price higher, I'll be patient."
That’s great, maybe you’ll spend a little more money!”
For Ye Tian, two million Hong Kong dollars was really nothing. In fact, he was not angry. On the contrary, he admired the auctioneer. There were not many people who could get money out of their own hands.
Although Henry's methods are somewhat shady, from the perspective of an auctioneer, Henry is undoubtedly very good.
"Damn it, please be patient, my heart can't bear it!"
Henry has been hosting auctions for seven or eight years, and he has never seen such a difficult owner. The auction of just this one item almost consumed all his energy.
"This gentleman is joking. From my point of view, of course I hope the price will be as high as possible!"
Although he wanted to smash the auction hammer down right away, Henry still asked a few questions in a routine manner, "The gentleman on plate No. 1 bids 2 million Hong Kong dollars. Are there any friends who will continue to bid?"
“One time for HKD 2 million, a second time for HKD 2 million, a third time for HKD 2 million, deal done!”
The auction hammer in Henry's hand struck hard, "Congratulations to Mr. No. 1, these six volumes of scriptures from Dunhuang, China, are now yours!"
"How many ancient scrolls can be purchased with two million? Is this young man crazier than Mr. Tang?"
"I guess he is fighting with the auctioneer. After all, he is young and energetic!"
"Didn't you see that he is Song Weilan's son? A mere 2 million Hong Kong dollars is nothing?"
When Ye Tian successfully took pictures of these six volumes of "Kaiyuan Dao Zang", there was a burst of discussion in the venue.
To be honest, although this amount of money is not a lot, it is more than ten times more than the market value of the classics themselves. In their eyes, Ye Tian's behavior is no different from that of a prodigal.
Ye Tian doesn't care at all about what others think. In his eyes, money is just a tool. Whether he has money or not, Ye Tian believes that he can live a prosperous life.
Looking back at Zhou Xiaotian who was sitting in the second row, Ye Tian said: "Xiaotian, go settle with them. We will not participate in the afternoon auction."
The catalog that Tang Wenyuan brought had more than a hundred pages, which listed all the photos of the auction items. However, except for these six volumes of "Kaiyuan Dao Zang", Ye Tian had no interest in other items.
Just as Zhou Xiaotian was about to go out, Henry on the stage suddenly said: "Gentlemen and ladies, let's take a short break. We will continue the auction of the third lot. Please take a look at the third lot first.
Expansion pack!”
The auction started only thirty minutes ago, and there was still more than an hour before the auction ended in the morning. Logically speaking, there shouldn't be a break so soon.
It's just that the auction just now consumed Henry's mind too much, and there's nothing he can do about it. If he insists on holding on, there might be some problems in the subsequent auctions.
"Mom, Dad, Senior Brother, let's go, don't look at the people behind you."
However, this was what Ye Tian wanted. He didn't want to stay here anymore. While everyone was resting, Ye Tian and his group greeted Wilson and the chief executive and exited the auction house.
With Song Weilan's face, there was no problem in going through the auction procedures in advance. When Ye Tian and his party left the Central Building, Zhou Xiaotian already had an extra password box on his right hand.
"You brat, that's not how you use your money. The person bidding in front of you is obviously a shill!"
After getting in the car, Ye Dongping lectured his son with a look of displeasure. Although there was no shortage of money in life now, as someone who came from that era of material poverty, Ye Dongping didn't want to see Ye Tian so extravagant and wasteful.
"Dad, I know that person is a supporter, but my back hurts and I'm really not in the mood to argue with him!" Ye Tian was too lazy to argue with his father, so he simply used his injury as a shield.
"Son, is it a spinal injury? You... please stop sitting and lie down first."
Sure enough, as soon as Ye Tian said these words, Song Weilan suddenly became nervous and shouted to the driver: "Master driver, drive slower and don't be bumpy."
"Weilan, don't listen to him, this guy is bad."
When Ye Dongping saw the sly smile in his son's eyes, he suddenly got angry. Ye Tian had used this trick a lot since he was a child. Whenever he was about to beat someone up, he started to get angry even before the thing got to him.
The ground rolled.
"While you're at it, did anyone say that about your son?"
Although Song Weilan also felt that something was wrong, she was very dissatisfied with her husband's words. She was now a completely unreasonable mother. Whatever Ye Tian did was right in her eyes.
"Daughter-in-law, my neck hurts, come on, press it for me!" Ye Tian couldn't help but snickered when he saw that his father couldn't even lift his head after being scolded by his mother.
"You are really bad." Yu Qingya couldn't help laughing, but she didn't know why she loved this bad boy so much.
While talking and laughing, the car stopped at the door of Ye Tian's villa, and the group entered the yard.
"Qingya, please accompany your parents to talk to Old Tang. My senior brothers and I have something to discuss!"
As early as when they were in the car, Ye Tian and several senior brothers almost couldn't help themselves and opened the box in Zhou Xiaotian's hand.
As soon as they returned home, several old men immediately surrounded Zhou Xiaotian and walked to the living room. The living room of Ye Tian's mansion had almost become a place for them to discuss matters.
Seeing Ye Tian opening the box, even Gou Xin's family was a little nervous and said repeatedly: "Be careful, don't use too much force!"
The Tang Dynasty was almost 1,400 years ago. It is not easy for these scriptures to be preserved to this day. If these objects had just been unearthed, they might have been shattered by the wind.
Ye Tian picked up a book, looked at it, and said, "They also did embalming, senior brother, it's okay."
Ye Dongping has been looking for antiques since the 1980s. Ye Tian still understands these basic common sense. He handed the book in his hand to Gou Xinjia and said, "Brothers, let's read it together..."
"Kaiyuan Dao Zang" covers many subjects, ranging from astronomy and geography to trivial topics. Ye Tian didn't have time to search for them one by one. Everyone was given a copy.
This "Kaiyuan Dao Zang" is compiled in regular script. Although it is vertical and written from right to left, most of the scriptures that Ye Tian has read since he was a child are like this, so there is no problem in reading it.
Gou Xinjia and others came from an era when traditional Chinese characters were used, and there was no difficulty in reading them. As for Zhou Xiaotian, he only served tea and poured water.
"Sir, my book is about talismans. It may be of some inspiration to you!"
More than half an hour later, Ye Tian showed a look of disappointment on his face and handed the book in his hand to Gou Xin's family. The book did contain some formation techniques, but it did not contain the techniques Ye Tian needed.
"My book is the Immortal Genealogy. What do these things mean?"
Gou Xinjia had almost finished reading the book in his hand at this time. After receiving the Taoist canon handed over by Ye Tian, he casually handed the book he had just flipped over to Ye Tian's hand.
