Patterson Auctioneers, Don A Patterson ripoff, Estate Auction, Selling items cheap to family members CHEAP. Nampa Idaho

Dave, I think you might have hit this on the head.  There is "something" wrong here.  I was at an auction this past week 4-20-11 in Garden City Idaho. Bids were low, as expexted but lower than they should have been.  The items auctioned were from a concession business in Bank forecloser and the owner was in the croud bidding on items his bank just forclosed on. Unethical at the very least and maybe illigal, with Don's knowledge. He said its an open auction.  Seller/Buyer beware.

That's what this complaint is all about.

It's not about the bidders who weren't willing to pay much money.

It's the fact that the auctioneer was a crook, who kept the good stuff for himself and his friends.

He went on to sell the stuff he got at top dollar, and made a killing off the deal.

Clearly a rip-off.

Assuming that is what actually happened. We haven't heard anything from the auctioneer.

Doug:

I manage a self-storage where we frequently auction the contents of units to recover unpaid rent. We hire a professional auctioneer. Auctions seldom raise anywhere near market value. Just last week I had an auction for a collector's car with a disassembled drive train. Even though there are collectors who would have paid thousands for the vehicle as it is, I literally could not give it away as none of the bidders are car collectors. Most of the bidders at our auctions are flea-market vendors who buy with the intent to resell.

While an auction does not raise much money, it is a great way of disposing of unwanted property quickly. It is the fast nickel instead of the slow dime. But when you have better quality things you may want to sell these some other way. You, the seller, have to decide whether to take whatever you might get at auction or to spend more of your time trying to get a better price elsewhere. The fact that you received much less for your father's estate than you felt it was worth is more due to the nature of an auction than to fraud.

You mentioned that you felt that some vehicles were worth more than what the auctioneer said. At an auction, a bidder has little chance to inspect or drive a vehicle. He is bidding on a pig in a poke sold as-is without warranty. The terms of the auction are normally cash on the spot or a deposit with full payment the following day. This limits the pool of potential buyers to those who can pay cash.

It's kind of hard to say whether there was anything underhanded in allowing the assistant auctioneer to bid for an absentee buyer. As to the two brothers and others who may have been friends of the auctioneers, this is quite common. Auctioneers often have a following; that is, regulars who show up at these auctions. It is not unusual for them to know each other and to have on-going rivalries. Ninety percent of the persons who attended the last auction at my self-storage had attended previous auctions here.

An auction is great for getting rid of a lot of stuff, such as an estate, quickly. But the nature of the beast also means that the seller is likely to get substantially less than market value.

I would like to state some of the facts related to this auction.

The auction was to disperse of my father's extensive collection of miscellaneous vehicles, tools, lumber, equipment, trailers and hardware. Some of the property was of questionable quality and some was of excellent quality.

Things that happened that are of fact is the following.

1. Prior to the auction I had set prices for vehicles and Don Patterson told me those prices were too high. He said that he and fellow auctioneer Kelly Trout went over the Manheim report and gave prices that they thought the vehicles would sell for. I felt these prices were below wholesale and I set reserve prices higher. Bidder number 125 and other numbers were used to meet reserve. The reserve prices I did set were below fair market value and what I could have sold the items for myself. Example: My dad's enclosed trailer sold for $3500. Normal used retail for the same trailer is $5500. I feel the reserve prices that Don Patterson wanted me to set were what he and Kelly Trout were willing to pay for my father's vehicles. At those prices they could have resold the items themselves and made a great profit.
2. Don Patterson started calling the auction for the tool portion and then handed the auction calling duties to his very close friend and business partner Kelly Trout. During the tool auction Kelly sold a large amount of tools to two individuals. One was down on bent knees and the other was standing to the west of him. They both got some great deals on tools. I originally thought that these guys were doing me a favor until one of them 3/4 s of the way through the auction took the microphone and began calling the auction. When I asked him what his deal was he said, I am Kelly Trout's brother and I show up to these auctions to keep bidding going and buy things that are not selling for enough money. I was shocked since I was not made aware of this in advance.
3. I was at the auction office trailer and was asking how things were going money wise. I also asked how much some horse panels sold for. They told me Kelly Trout bought the horse panels. I told Don Patterson that Kelly Trout bought the panels he said no he did not and that he was bidding for someone else from some obscure city and bought the panels for that person. The panels sold for a low price. New they would go for about $85 each and prior to the auction Don told me he could get near new prices for the panels. I believe they sold for $22 each.
4. The auctioneers and friends of the auctioneers hauled away a large amount of property and said they bought it and Don Patterson hauled away a great amount of property himself. He claimed he was hauling it for customers. I had no way of knowing if he was telling me the truth because he did not provide me the photocopied identifications of the purchasers.
5. After the auction I stayed around the property to help load and watch the process. Two of the customers were brothers. One of them was standing at the tool part of the auction early in the day and he purchased a great amount of tools, engine blocks, a truck and truck bed. While he was loading these he said Kelly (Kelly Trout was calling auction) seemed to be pissed when we bided against him. His brother said If they don't want us bidding against them then they should not invite us to these auctions. Kelly Trout and fellow auctioneers were kind enough to help the brothers load and remove some the items they bought. Kelly Trout owns a car lot and lives in Emmett, Idaho and the brothers live in Emmett too.
6. My last duty was to meet Don Patterson and sign the closing documents. Then is when I aired my concerns with Don. I told there was no way that the auction was honest. I told him it was a conflict of interest to have an auctioneer selling directly to his brother and that I felt items were selling short of value. I told him that if he had a plant in the crowd buying things to keep the pace of the auction going then I should have been informed of this and given an opportunity to buy back those items. The look on his face was one of shock. His delayed response was that he would have run off any auctioneer selling short and that he cannot control who attends these auctions. I don't believe Don Patterson was not aware of this and I felt like he was lying to me about who bought what and having knowledge of Kelly Trout's brother buying things short. I believe this is business as usual for them.

The auction was a very emotional event in my life and it was my first ever experience with selling property this way. All of my father's belongings are now sold. I felt like everyone I dealt with from start to finish was eager to profit from his passing and that the auction experience was like watching Vultures eat on the Serengeti.

I have never taken the time to compare values and try to estimate what was lost value wise but I feel the activities at the auction were not honest.

Fees were 10% buyer's premium, 10% commission, and about $2200 in advertising. I don't know if is appropriate to say what I believe Don Patterson netted off the top but my estimates is that he did well. I don't how much profit he made reselling items he and his associates purchased. The one good thing about the auction was it did provide a tremendous amount of labor to clean up my father's property.

This is the brief of what happen May 13, 2006.

I would like to state some of the facts related to this auction.

The auction was to disperse of my father's extensive collection of miscellaneous vehicles, tools, lumber, equipment, trailers and hardware. Some of the property was of questionable quality and some was of excellent quality.

Things that happened that are of fact is the following.

1. Prior to the auction I had set prices for vehicles and Don Patterson told me those prices were too high. He said that he and fellow auctioneer Kelly Trout went over the Manheim report and gave prices that they thought the vehicles would sell for. I felt these prices were below wholesale and I set reserve prices higher. Bidder number 125 and other numbers were used to meet reserve. The reserve prices I did set were below fair market value and what I could have sold the items for myself. Example: My dad's enclosed trailer sold for $3500. Normal used retail for the same trailer is $5500. I feel the reserve prices that Don Patterson wanted me to set were what he and Kelly Trout were willing to pay for my father's vehicles. At those prices they could have resold the items themselves and made a great profit.
2. Don Patterson started calling the auction for the tool portion and then handed the auction calling duties to his very close friend and business partner Kelly Trout. During the tool auction Kelly sold a large amount of tools to two individuals. One was down on bent knees and the other was standing to the west of him. They both got some great deals on tools. I originally thought that these guys were doing me a favor until one of them 3/4 s of the way through the auction took the microphone and began calling the auction. When I asked him what his deal was he said, I am Kelly Trout's brother and I show up to these auctions to keep bidding going and buy things that are not selling for enough money. I was shocked since I was not made aware of this in advance.
3. I was at the auction office trailer and was asking how things were going money wise. I also asked how much some horse panels sold for. They told me Kelly Trout bought the horse panels. I told Don Patterson that Kelly Trout bought the panels he said no he did not and that he was bidding for someone else from some obscure city and bought the panels for that person. The panels sold for a low price. New they would go for about $85 each and prior to the auction Don told me he could get near new prices for the panels. I believe they sold for $22 each.
4. The auctioneers and friends of the auctioneers hauled away a large amount of property and said they bought it and Don Patterson hauled away a great amount of property himself. He claimed he was hauling it for customers. I had no way of knowing if he was telling me the truth because he did not provide me the photocopied identifications of the purchasers.
5. After the auction I stayed around the property to help load and watch the process. Two of the customers were brothers. One of them was standing at the tool part of the auction early in the day and he purchased a great amount of tools, engine blocks, a truck and truck bed. While he was loading these he said Kelly (Kelly Trout was calling auction) seemed to be pissed when we bided against him. His brother said If they don't want us bidding against them then they should not invite us to these auctions. Kelly Trout and fellow auctioneers were kind enough to help the brothers load and remove some the items they bought. Kelly Trout owns a car lot and lives in Emmett, Idaho and the brothers live in Emmett too.
6. My last duty was to meet Don Patterson and sign the closing documents. Then is when I aired my concerns with Don. I told there was no way that the auction was honest. I told him it was a conflict of interest to have an auctioneer selling directly to his brother and that I felt items were selling short of value. I told him that if he had a plant in the crowd buying things to keep the pace of the auction going then I should have been informed of this and given an opportunity to buy back those items. The look on his face was one of shock. His delayed response was that he would have run off any auctioneer selling short and that he cannot control who attends these auctions. I don't believe Don Patterson was not aware of this and I felt like he was lying to me about who bought what and having knowledge of Kelly Trout's brother buying things short. I believe this is business as usual for them.

The auction was a very emotional event in my life and it was my first ever experience with selling property this way. All of my father's belongings are now sold. I felt like everyone I dealt with from start to finish was eager to profit from his passing and that the auction experience was like watching Vultures eat on the Serengeti.

I have never taken the time to compare values and try to estimate what was lost value wise but I feel the activities at the auction were not honest.

Fees were 10% buyer's premium, 10% commission, and about $2200 in advertising. I don't know if is appropriate to say what I believe Don Patterson netted off the top but my estimates is that he did well. I don't how much profit he made reselling items he and his associates purchased. The one good thing about the auction was it did provide a tremendous amount of labor to clean up my father's property.

This is the brief of what happen May 13, 2006.

I would like to state some of the facts related to this auction.

The auction was to disperse of my father's extensive collection of miscellaneous vehicles, tools, lumber, equipment, trailers and hardware. Some of the property was of questionable quality and some was of excellent quality.

Things that happened that are of fact is the following.

1. Prior to the auction I had set prices for vehicles and Don Patterson told me those prices were too high. He said that he and fellow auctioneer Kelly Trout went over the Manheim report and gave prices that they thought the vehicles would sell for. I felt these prices were below wholesale and I set reserve prices higher. Bidder number 125 and other numbers were used to meet reserve. The reserve prices I did set were below fair market value and what I could have sold the items for myself. Example: My dad's enclosed trailer sold for $3500. Normal used retail for the same trailer is $5500. I feel the reserve prices that Don Patterson wanted me to set were what he and Kelly Trout were willing to pay for my father's vehicles. At those prices they could have resold the items themselves and made a great profit.
2. Don Patterson started calling the auction for the tool portion and then handed the auction calling duties to his very close friend and business partner Kelly Trout. During the tool auction Kelly sold a large amount of tools to two individuals. One was down on bent knees and the other was standing to the west of him. They both got some great deals on tools. I originally thought that these guys were doing me a favor until one of them 3/4 s of the way through the auction took the microphone and began calling the auction. When I asked him what his deal was he said, I am Kelly Trout's brother and I show up to these auctions to keep bidding going and buy things that are not selling for enough money. I was shocked since I was not made aware of this in advance.
3. I was at the auction office trailer and was asking how things were going money wise. I also asked how much some horse panels sold for. They told me Kelly Trout bought the horse panels. I told Don Patterson that Kelly Trout bought the panels he said no he did not and that he was bidding for someone else from some obscure city and bought the panels for that person. The panels sold for a low price. New they would go for about $85 each and prior to the auction Don told me he could get near new prices for the panels. I believe they sold for $22 each.
4. The auctioneers and friends of the auctioneers hauled away a large amount of property and said they bought it and Don Patterson hauled away a great amount of property himself. He claimed he was hauling it for customers. I had no way of knowing if he was telling me the truth because he did not provide me the photocopied identifications of the purchasers.
5. After the auction I stayed around the property to help load and watch the process. Two of the customers were brothers. One of them was standing at the tool part of the auction early in the day and he purchased a great amount of tools, engine blocks, a truck and truck bed. While he was loading these he said Kelly (Kelly Trout was calling auction) seemed to be pissed when we bided against him. His brother said If they don't want us bidding against them then they should not invite us to these auctions. Kelly Trout and fellow auctioneers were kind enough to help the brothers load and remove some the items they bought. Kelly Trout owns a car lot and lives in Emmett, Idaho and the brothers live in Emmett too.
6. My last duty was to meet Don Patterson and sign the closing documents. Then is when I aired my concerns with Don. I told there was no way that the auction was honest. I told him it was a conflict of interest to have an auctioneer selling directly to his brother and that I felt items were selling short of value. I told him that if he had a plant in the crowd buying things to keep the pace of the auction going then I should have been informed of this and given an opportunity to buy back those items. The look on his face was one of shock. His delayed response was that he would have run off any auctioneer selling short and that he cannot control who attends these auctions. I don't believe Don Patterson was not aware of this and I felt like he was lying to me about who bought what and having knowledge of Kelly Trout's brother buying things short. I believe this is business as usual for them.

The auction was a very emotional event in my life and it was my first ever experience with selling property this way. All of my father's belongings are now sold. I felt like everyone I dealt with from start to finish was eager to profit from his passing and that the auction experience was like watching Vultures eat on the Serengeti.

I have never taken the time to compare values and try to estimate what was lost value wise but I feel the activities at the auction were not honest.

Fees were 10% buyer's premium, 10% commission, and about $2200 in advertising. I don't know if is appropriate to say what I believe Don Patterson netted off the top but my estimates is that he did well. I don't how much profit he made reselling items he and his associates purchased. The one good thing about the auction was it did provide a tremendous amount of labor to clean up my father's property.

This is the brief of what happen May 13, 2006.

Dave needs to get his facts straight. I have worked with Don Patterson before and he wouldn't do such a thing. Don is an honest man and has been doing this business for a long time. I have never seen or heard about such a problem with Patterson Auctioneers. I have got to know Don and his family and he doesn't even have a Brother in Law. I talk to Don a little bit about this rip off report. I don't know about the money thing but he went and looked in the records and told me that 125 was the owner's number. If anybody has questions or doubts his service, give him a call, and you will see that he is a good person to work with.

Dave needs to get his facts straight. I have worked with Don Patterson before and he wouldn't do such a thing. Don is an honest man and has been doing this business for a long time. I have never seen or heard about such a problem with Patterson Auctioneers. I have got to know Don and his family and he doesn't even have a Brother in Law. I talk to Don a little bit about this rip off report. I don't know about the money thing but he went and looked in the records and told me that 125 was the owner's number. If anybody has questions or doubts his service, give him a call, and you will see that he is a good person to work with.

Dave needs to get his facts straight. I have worked with Don Patterson before and he wouldn't do such a thing. Don is an honest man and has been doing this business for a long time. I have never seen or heard about such a problem with Patterson Auctioneers. I have got to know Don and his family and he doesn't even have a Brother in Law. I talk to Don a little bit about this rip off report. I don't know about the money thing but he went and looked in the records and told me that 125 was the owner's number. If anybody has questions or doubts his service, give him a call, and you will see that he is a good person to work with.

Dave needs to get his facts straight. I have worked with Don Patterson before and he wouldn't do such a thing. Don is an honest man and has been doing this business for a long time. I have never seen or heard about such a problem with Patterson Auctioneers. I have got to know Don and his family and he doesn't even have a Brother in Law. I talk to Don a little bit about this rip off report. I don't know about the money thing but he went and looked in the records and told me that 125 was the owner's number. If anybody has questions or doubts his service, give him a call, and you will see that he is a good person to work with.