Everyone has the right to put a reserve on their auction, and therefore there should be NOTHING but honest, unrelated parties allowed to bid.
If it makes reserve, then it's up to the owners to announce it's on the market or not.
Once they do, the last highest bid wins.
If their reserve, or required price isn't met, then the auction fails.
It really should be a very honest, open and transparent process. The only thing that is secret is the reserve price that the owner should never disclose for obvious reasons.
