SHOPPERS are being ripped off every day by salesmen running mock auctions in Liverpool city centre.
The fast-talking traders are making thousands of pounds from selling cheap, poor quality goods to unsuspecting buyers, who say they feel menaced when they try to complain.
A shop on Ranelagh Street is operating daily sales with scores of bargain hunters enticed by promises of mobile phones, DVD players and cameras for as little as £20.
But people are walking away with cheap and poor quality goods after handing over their money.
Today trading standards officers warned people to be on their guard and not be enticed by the promise of bargain goods, after receiving complaints from disappointed auction-goers.
Mock auctions regularly spring up in empty shop premises, and shoppers are enticed by the promise of a bargain. When the auction starts most buyers find it difficult to know what they are bidding for, while "plants" in the crowd ensure the price keeps rising.
Buyers end up parting with large amounts of money for goods they have not even seen.
The ECHO investigated after receiving calls from disgruntled shoppers.
Caroline Lavery, 31, from Dingle, wanted to buy a new mobile phone for £20 as advertised in the shop window, but came away with a watch worth approximately £5.
She said: "There were all these laptops, Playstations and iPods stacked up around the man running the auction. They must be making £2,000 to £3,000 a day in there."
Using showmanship and clever sales patter, the auctioneer whips people up into parting with their money by handing out "free" gifts.
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