So many words #013 - Auctions

For €15,000,000, they could be yours

Auctions have been a hot topic this week, since Christie's unwisely decided to brave the flames of valiant Chinese netizens (網民) and auction off two pieces from Yves Saint-Laurent's collection, pieces that just happened to be ripped out of a fountain in the Summer Palace. Bad idea! Christie's was now able to sell the pieces for 20,000 times their original estimated value,  no doubt causing fits of laughing and crying all the way to the bank for all parties involved. 

The auction as a concept is called 拍賣 pāimài in Chinese, while the actual auction is called 拍賣會 pāimàihuì. In an auction the moderator uses a mallet 錘兒 chuír, to 落錘 luò chuí drop the hammer, when the final bid has been made. The bidder, on the other hand will 舉牌 jǔpái raise a sign to show that he is making a bid.  

Auctions operate with several types of prices:

1. 參考價 cānkǎojià - estimated price. The price in the catalog 圖錄 túlù. 
   
2. 成交價 chéngjiāojià - final price. The end result of the auction.
   
3. 拍賣底價 pāimàidǐjià - lowest price. The lowest price the auctioneer is willing to accept.
   

Four parties are involved in an auction, they are:

1. 拍賣人 pāimàirén - the auctioneer. The person or company entrusted with performing the actual action.
   
2. 委托人 wěituōrén - the commissioner. The person who is entrusting the auctioneer with auctioning off an item.
   
3. 競買人 jìngmǎirén - the bidder. The person who is making a bid.
   
4. 買受人 mǎishòurén - the winner. The person who makes the winning bid
   

As with all forms of trade one can also use 買方 mǎifāng buyer and 賣方 màifāng seller with auctions. The auctioneer will usually charge a 傭金 yòngjīn commission from the commissioner. 

And finally, here's some useful not-so-auction-related vocabulary:

煙幕 yānmù - smokescreen. 

冤大頭 yuāndàtóu - squanderer. Someone who spends more money than necessary on smth.

哄抬物價 hōngtáiwùjià - drive up prices.

囤積居奇 túnjījūqí - hoard smth. to increase the price. 

廢銅爛鐵 fèitónglàntiě - useless scrap metal. Can still get you millions of euros if you play your cards right.