Editing Auction (section)

====Collusion involving auctioneer====
A ring can also be used to increase the price of an auction lot, in which the owner of the object being auctioned may increase competition by taking part in the bidding themself, but drop out of the bidding just before the final bid. This form of a ring was used as a central plot device in an episode of the British television series ''[[Lovejoy]]'' (series 4, episode 3), in which the price of a watercolour by the (fictional) Jessie Webb is inflated so that others by the same artist could be sold for more than their purchase price. In an English auction, a dummy bid is a bid made by a dummy bidder acting in collusion with the auctioneer or vendor, designed to deceive genuine bidders into paying more. In a first-price auction, a dummy bid is an unfavourable bid designed so as not to become the winning bid. (The bidder does not want to win this auction, but they want to make sure to be invited to the next auction).

In Britain and many other countries, rings and other forms of bidding on one's own object are illegal. In Australia, a dummy bid or also a [[Shill#Auctions|shill]] is a criminal offence, but a vendor bid or a co-owner bid below the [[reserve price]] is permitted if clearly declared as such by the auctioneer. These are all official legal terms in Australia but may have other meanings elsewhere. A co-owner is one of two or several owners (who disagree among themselves). In Sweden and many other countries, there are no legal restrictions, but it will severely hurt the reputation of an auction house that knowingly permits any other bids except genuine bids. If the reserve is not reached this should be clearly declared. In South Africa, auctioneers can use their staff or any bidder to raise the price as long as it is disclosed before the auction sale. [[Rael Levitt]]'s companies ''The Auction Alliance'' controversy focused on vendor bidding and led to its downfall in 2012.<ref>{{cite news |title=Auction Alliance to probe claims |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/auction-alliance-to-probe-claims-1240529 |access-date=13 March 2021 |work=www.iol.co.za |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |website=eProperty News |title=Billionaire loses legal battle against High Street Auctions over phantom bidders – eProperty News |url=https://eprop.co.za/commercial-property-news/item/18740-billionaire-loses-legal-battle-against-high-street-auctions-over-phantom-bidders |access-date=13 March 2021 |language=en-gb}}</ref>