The Charity Auction and the Expired Company License
You are the sole licensed auctioneer at Casco Bay Auction Co. in Portland. Your individual Maine auctioneer license is active. The company's Maine auction company license expired 45 days ago after the owner missed renewal; the owner says, 'Your license covers the sale, and the company can just handle the paperwork.' A nonprofit has asked you to conduct a 180-lot benefit auction this Saturday at a rented hall, with 300 expected attendees. The nonprofit has signed no listing contract, but its director emailed: 'We trust you; just run it.' The owner also plans to have two volunteers record bids and a third 'call a few lots' while you take a break. Advertising is already posted on social media under the company name, without your license number. One consignor wants a reserve on a signed print, but the ad says 'everything sells absolute.'
1. What licensing and staffing problems must be fixed before the auction, and may you proceed if they are not fixed?
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Separate the licenses. Your individual license does not authorize Casco Bay Auction Co. to act as an auction company. If the company is the contracting auctioneer or receives sale proceeds, its expired license must be reinstated before the sale, or the nonprofit must contract with you personally and the company must stay out of the auction role. Do not let the company 'handle paperwork' as a cover.
Staffing. Only a licensed auctioneer may call bids. Volunteers may record bids clerically under your supervision if Board rules allow, but the third volunteer cannot 'call a few lots.' Arrange a licensed backup or call every lot yourself.
Contract and advertising. Get a written listing/sale agreement with the nonprofit before the auction. Correct the social-media advertising to identify the licensed seller/auctioneer accurately and to remove any claim that is inconsistent with the reserve instruction. If these items cannot be fixed, postpone; proceeding invites unlicensed-activity and misrepresentation complaints.
2. How should you handle the consignor's reserve request given the advertising already posted?
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An 'absolute' ad is a promise of no reserve. You cannot privately impose the consignor's reserve after bidders have relied on the ad. Before bidding on that print, tell the consignor in writing: either it sells absolute, or you will withdraw it from this sale and re-advertise it in a later reserve auction with clear disclosure. If the ad has already created an absolute sale, withdrawing the lot at the last minute may expose the consignor and you to claims; a prominent correction and announcement is the minimum, but cancellation of that lot may be safer. Do not use seller bids or a 'house bid' to reach the reserve. Document the consignor's written election and keep the corrected ad.