[hafod]

Hi all,
Just wondering if anyone could help me out with something that's been puzzling me. I went to a livestock show and sale last weekend and was a bit puzzled why the auctioneer was handling over money (£5 and £10 notes) to the winning bidder after each lot - I've been to other auctions and never seen this before? It was done quite blatantly so nothing underhand (I don't think! )
Can anyone explain?
H

[stufe35]

It is known as luck money,  it is as far as I know just a tradition,  money handed over from the seller to the buyer as a gesture of good luck with the continued ownership of the animal.  It is only done when selling things that are alive.

Not sure what the tax man thinks of it !  As in some cases with cattle dealers you see substantial wads changing hands.  Best keep quiet....any tax officers out there please don't read this !

Have just spoken to one of my farmer friends ,  he assures me he declares all his luck money on his tax return.....not sure if this post should really be in the jokes section.

Just read the post again... im surprised it was the auctioneer handing over the money, it would ususally be seller to buyer direct.  Perhaps in this case the seller was well known to the auctioneer and was carrying out the task as a favour.

 

[ellied]

Luck money always traditional when selling ponies - in recent years rather than cash I've tended to pay the transfer fee (£10) for registration papers with HPS as an equivalent goodwill gesture.  Some buyers aren't members of the society and would be charged £40 for the same paperwork, others might not get round to the admin and I want to keep my ponies' whereabouts on the radar so it suits me to do it that way and no tax issues whatsoever involved   So they get papers, admin forms completed bar their personal details, and a cheque already made out to HPS - sorted!!

[jaykay]

It's luck. A Viking custom, carried on in some parts, usually in the north. I'm so used to it in our local marts that when I started buying and selling Shetlands, with folk from all over the country, I was shocked at the lack of it.

Sometimes the seller gives the luck to the auctioneer to give out, as they haven't stayed to see their stock sold, or the auctioneer stands a better chance of seeing who bought it.

Occasionally you get luck 'in kind' rather than in money. When I bought a field from my neighbour, I got several tonnes of limestone chippings :-)

[hafod]

Thanks all - I feel more educated now!
Another question: If I was going to sell any of my stock at an auction do I choose how much luck money I would like to give or is there any guidance? (I don't intend to as prefer selling direct if I do sell any but just wondering). Most of the the amounts I saw handed over was around the £5 - £10 mark for the sheep with more for the cattle - presumably as they were sold for more money.

[jaykay]

In our local mart it's about 5%.

[F.CUTHBERT]

I don’t buy and sell as much through the mart these days but from my experience the “ luck penny” is a tradition that is dying out. I don’t give any luck when selling fat cattle and no one has ever asked for any, maybe why I rarely get top price.
I don’t think the amount of luck works on a percentage basis. I don’t think I have ever got much more than £20 even when buying a bull or a pen of cattle for several £1,000s. When I do give out luck perhaps for stores or breeding stock the amount I give depends on what I have in my pocket, How well I have done at the sale and therefor how generous I am feeling and how much I valued the buyers contribution towards the final price.
When buying I never bother seeking out the seller to ask if there is any luck with the stock I have bought but it is always nice when the seller comes up to you afterwards and thanks you, and slips a few pound in your hand.
Once after buying some cows and calves at Perth when I went to pay for them I was told the seller had left £5 of luck on each lot. That is possibly what you say the auctioneer doing. 
 

[Herdygirl]

We have had cheques (luck money) sent to us by the auctioneer (Cockermouth and Bentham) and also handed to us at a private sale - it's not much but it's nice.
 
you sometimes see the seller in the ring holding up coins to indicate that there will be luck money with the stock

[stufe35]

Spoke to an accountant friend of mine, has quite a few farmers on his books.  Says most of them put down luck money as an expense to the business, but strangely none of them receive any !

[jaykay]

Obviously