The Mock Auctions Act 1961 was an Act

Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom

An Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom is a type of legislation called primary legislation. These Acts are passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster, or by the Scottish Parliament at Edinburgh....

 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

 that regulated mock auction

Mock auction

A Mock auction is a scam usually operated in a street market, disposal sale or similar environment, where cheap and low quality goods are sold at high prices by a team of confidence tricksters. In 19th Century New York, mock auctions revolved around the sale of cigars, horses and high quality...

s. It was repealed by the Statutory Instrument

Statutory Instrument

A Statutory Instrument is the principal form in which delegated or secondary legislation is made in Great Britain.Statutory Instruments are governed by the Statutory Instruments Act 1946. They replaced Statutory Rules and Orders, made under the Rules Publication Act 1893, in 1948.Most delegated...

 "Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008" (2008/1277).

Background

Attempts to pass an Act regulating mock auction

Mock auction

A Mock auction is a scam usually operated in a street market, disposal sale or similar environment, where cheap and low quality goods are sold at high prices by a team of confidence tricksters. In 19th Century New York, mock auctions revolved around the sale of cigars, horses and high quality...

s started in 1928, with the Mock Auctions Bill introduced by Lord Gorell. The Bill failed after it was passed to a Select Committee, which reported that existing provisions were sufficient to deal with the problem. Opponents of the Bill argued that it would be impossible to secure convictions, since victims are reluctant to come forward and highlight their gullibility. The second Mock Auctions Bill was introduced to Parliament by a group of MPs including Norman Dodds

Norman Dodds

Norman Noel Dodds was a British Labour Co-operative politician.He was Member of Parliament for Dartford from 1945 to 1955, and then for Erith and Crayford from 1955 until his death in 1965, aged 61....

, and received the Royal Assent

Royal Assent

The granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...

on 27 July 1961.

Act

To avoid interfering with genuine auctions, the Act includes a complex and detailed definition of a mock auction. A mock auction is an auction featuring competitive bidding which satisfies one of three tests: 1) if there is a reduction in price or repayment of the money to the highest bidder, 2) if the right to bid is restricted to people who have bought other items or 3) if any items are offered as gifts or given away. The punishment for running a mock auction, if convicted, was at most either a £,1000 fine, two years in prison or both.