Whether it is a complete liquidation or consignment, buyer-beware, if you go to a Fraley auction there is a good chance you will be bidding against the seller and if you win, you lose. Fraley had a "Complete Liquidation" of a farm on Saturday February 23, 2019, meaning the business was closing and everything was being sold. However, the business is not closing, which I learned only after a 3 hour drive and enduring 6 and half hours of the auction. Not only was it not closing, but one of the owners (there are two brothers who had inherited it from their parents, since gone, and one operates the farm and the other collects checks leading to animosity and finally a split which prompted the auction to establish value) was a bidder, bidding on nearly every item and winning the vast majority. Not a bad strategy for them; get rid of the clutter, upgrade at a profit or value the split (with his brother) at less than replacement cost while keeping the business intact. Auctions are "buyer-beware" but that works when we all have the same limited information. In the long run, you get deals and you get duds but when you are bidding against the seller with complete information exacerbated by the fact the value of an item that needs to be disassembled, transported and reassembled is always worth more "in place" (many of the lots were being sold as complete barns of equipment such as feeding, watering and processing systems that instillation cost is a big percentage of the value) and an auctioneer working hard to get the highest price possible (through out the auction, it became clear there was a relationship or affiliation as they frequently were interacting with the seller) knowing that the owner is bidding with a knowledge of what everything is worth having weeks, months and years to prepare a value, you will always lose. It wasn't until the very end that I learned the mystery bidder, bidding on nearly everything, was the seller. I brought my concern to Fraley. They started with "you must not go to a lot of auctions" (hundreds, ask my wife. She thinks I have a problem). They continued, saying that auctions are buyer-beware with everything being sold as-is, where-is and without warranty and, further, allowing the seller to bid is neither unethical or illegal and that it was my conceited New Jersey attitude that had created this problem in addition to me being mad because I had overpaid and buying anything was my choice, I didn't need to bid on anything if I thought it was too expensive. Fraley disagreed that the auction was misrepresented as a "complete liquidation" since the farm is "buying" the items and paying commission to the auctioneer just like anyone else. By this time, all other auction participants were gone (not much to take since the seller bought the vast majority) and it was only Fraley staff yelling at me in 4 letter words about what I should do, where I should go and what I could do with my ethics since what they do is legal. This auction was advertised as a "complete Liquidation". Allowing the seller to bid, makes it a "reserve" which was not advertised either verbal or written. read more