The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
(Cite as: 9A V.S.A. § 2-328)
-
§ 2—328. Sale by auction
(1) In a sale by auction if goods are put up in lots each lot is the subject of a separate
sale.
(2) A sale by auction is complete when the auctioneer so announces by the fall of the
hammer or in other customary manner. Where a bid is made while the hammer is falling
in acceptance of a prior bid the auctioneer may in his or her discretion reopen the
bidding or declare the goods sold under the bid on which the hammer was falling.
(3) Such a sale is with reserve unless the goods are in explicit terms put up without
reserve. In an auction with reserve the auctioneer may withdraw the goods at any
time until he or she announces completion of the sale. In an auction without reserve,
after the auctioneer calls for bids on an article or lot, that article or lot cannot
be withdrawn unless no bid is made within a reasonable time. In either case a bidder
may retract his or her bid until the auctioneer’s announcement of completion of the
sale, but a bidder’s retraction does not revive any previous bid.
(4) If the auctioneer knowingly receives a bid on the seller’s behalf or the seller makes
or procures such a bid, and notice has not been given that liberty for such bidding
is reserved, the buyer may at his or her option avoid the sale or take the goods at
the price of the last good faith bid prior to the completion of the sale. This subsection
shall not apply to any bid at a forced sale.