Brief introduction to auctions
拍卖简介
Auctions are public sales of goods, conducted by an officially approved auctioneer. He asks the crowd assembled in the auction-room to make offers, or "bids", for the various items on sale. He encourages buyers to bid higher figures, and finally names the highest bidder as the buyer of the goods. This is called “knocking down” the goods, for the bidding ends when the auctioneer strikes a small hammer on a table at which he stands.
拍卖是由官方认证可的拍卖师对物品进行公开销售。他要求聚集在拍卖室的人群对各种待售物品进行报价。他鼓励买家出更高的价，最后将出价最高的人成为货物的买家。当拍卖师在他身前的桌子上敲击小锤子时，拍卖结束，这称为“拍出”物品。
Auction sales in history
拍卖销售史
The ancient Roman probably invented sales by auction, and the English word comes from the Latin auctio, maning “increase” The Romans usually sold in this way the goods taken in war. In England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, goods were often sold “by the candle”: a short candle was lit by the auctioneer, and bids could be made while it stayed alight.
古罗马人可能发明了拍卖销售，英语单词auction来源于拉丁语auctio，意为“增加”。罗马人通常以这种方式出售战争中购买的货物。在18世纪和19世纪的英国，货物通常“按蜡烛”出售：拍卖商点燃一支短蜡烛，火亮着时可以出价。
Goods for auction sales
拍卖货物
Practically all goods whose qualities vary are sold by auction. Among these are coffee, skins, wool, tea, furs, silk and wines. Auction sales are also usual for land and property, furniture, pictures, rare books, old china and similar works of art.
几乎所有品质各异的商品都可以通过拍卖出售。其中包括咖啡、皮革、羊毛、茶叶、毛皮、丝绸和葡萄酒。土地和财产、家具、照片、珍本书、旧瓷器和类似艺术品的拍卖也很常见。
Way to sell more goods by auction
通过拍卖销售更多商品的方式
An auction is usually advertised beforehand with full particulars of the articles to be sold and where and when they can be viewed by potential buyers. If the advertisement cannot give full details, catalogues are printed, and each group of goods to be sold together, called a “lot”, is usually given a number. The auctioneer need not begin with Lot I and continue in the order of numbers: he may wait until he notices the fact that certain buyers are in the room and then produce the lots they are likely to be interested in.
拍卖通常会事先刊登广告，详细说明要出售的物品以及潜在买家可以在哪里和什么时候查看这些物品。如果广告不能提供全部细节，则会打印目录，将要一起出售的每组商品称为“拍卖品”，拍卖师不需要从第一批开始，然后按照数字顺序继续：他可以等到他注意到某些买家在房间里，然后拿出他们可能感兴趣的拍卖品。
Making a larger profit as an auctioneer
作为拍卖师获得更大的利润
The auctioneer’s services are paid for in the form of a percentage of the price the goods are sold for. The auctioneer therefore has a direct interest in pushing up the bidding as high as possible. He will not waste time by starting the bidding too low. He will also play on the opponents among his buyers and succeed in getting a high price by encouraging two business competitors to bid against each other.
拍卖师的服务是以商品售价的百分比形式支付的。因此，拍卖师对将出价推高到尽可能高有直接兴趣。他不会因为出价太低而浪费时间。他也让买家们彼此竞争，通过鼓励两个竞争对手相互竞争来提高价格并成功地获得高价。
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