Items are displayed before an auction at Graceland Too in Holly Springs, Miss., Saturday, Jan. 31, 2014. (Photo/Thomas Graning)
HOLLY SPRINGS – To the dismay of more than 100 eager bidders, the Graceland Too property and all of its contents were purchased online Saturday as a single item for $54,500 by an unknown buyer from Georgia.
The former home of the late Paul MacLeod had been parceled off into lots, including property, cars and outbuildings, all of which were to be sold to the highest bidder. Between the large crowd and the live online auction, the representatives of Spur K Auctions predicted that the auction might last until 5 p.m.
The auction began at 10:30 and ended just 20 minutes later.
The proceedings opened with brief remarks from Greg Kinard, owner of Spur K Auctions, and an impromptu thank you from MacLeod’s daughter, Brenda Young.
Kinard asked who in the crowd had come for the auction and who had come in memory of Paul. The crowd revealed a 50/50 split.
“For those that have come to Graceland Too over the years, I want to thank you for making my dad feel special, for making him Elvis’s number one fan,” Young said.
Young also announced that $5,000 of the proceeds from the day would be donated to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, in the form of a check from Elvis to “his biggest fans.”
Auctioneer Joey McCann opened the bidding first on the two Cadillacs that sat outside– one red and Graceland Too’s famous pink 1987 stretch Caddy. The red was sold for $2,450, and the pink brought in $4,000.
With the cars now sold, the rest was set up to begin.
Buyers had been touring the property for days, picking out which of the 600 lots they would bid on. On Friday, the house saw between 300 and 500 visitors.
Kinard announced that they would attempt to sell all of the contents in one fell swoop.
“The smart man,” he said, “will buy all of this and put it on the world wide internet, sell it piece by piece, and he’ll be a rich man.”
And so, the bidding for the entirety of Graceland Too began at $40,000.
In attendance were auction-goers from as far as Germany and Great Britain, some from Atlanta and Illinois and many from Central Mississippi, all hoping to take home a piece of the institution that was Graceland Too. However, people seemed largely uninterested in buying the contents as one.
Rather, aside from one or two bidders in the first few minutes, the crowd appeared content to hold back and wait for the sale of individual lots. But those hopes were crushed when, after a few minutes of technical difficulty in which the auction officials had to confirm the bid, it was announced that the unidentified Georgia buyer had purchased the whole of the contents in the online auction for $54,500.
The crowd had no qualms about voicing its displeasure, loudly.
Many of the auction-goers had been standing for hours in the cold, waiting to bid on their favorite piece of Elvis memorabilia. The fact that it all might be sold at once did not appear to be common knowledge, though Kinard insisted that the possibility had been included in advertisements.
Some joked that even the late Paul MacLeod would be displeased with the results. Would-be bidders who felt they had been robbed of their chance to own a piece of the Elvis Presley shrine had no problem voicing their anger.
“I think it’s crap,” said Steve Strong, one of many auction-goers who was ultimately unable to purchase anything. “I think we got ripped off.”
Kinard did his best to smooth things over with the crowd, assuring them that the auction was meant to go this way and that there were still items for sale. But the Elvis-loving crowd was not impressed with his attempt to move forward.
While the commotion did die down, at least two Holly Springs police patrol cars were dispatched to the property before the auction ended completely.
Speedy auction causes uproar
among bidders at Graceland T
