I went to an auction just around the corner about Nov 03, the...

I went to an auction just around the corner about Nov 03, the house was very dilapidated, mv about 500,000 land value only
steady stream of about 15 bidders to about 480,000 then one very old lady said 660,000 and they knocked it down to her.?????????????????????
why would you do something like that........she must have felt it would go higher and she gave the knockout bid
or at that time it might have been when the agents gave a lower price to potential bidders, knowing the vendor wanted a very different price.........that process is not allowed now..........or is it still happening ?
cheers