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Uncut Gems · 2019 — Chapter 9 of 14 · 4'11" · C1

Howard Riggs the Opal Auction, Explained: jack up

Before the auction, Howard asks Gooey to "jack up the bids" so the opal clears $250,000. Gooey refuses — "This is not a nice position you put me in" — yet the price still climbs past the estimate, pushed by a bidder who isn't there to win. The auction isn't a market; it's Howard's stage.

What happens

At an auction house, Howard pulls Gooey aside and asks him to shill the bidding for his black opal, promising him 20% of the winning bid and insisting Kevin Garnett is obsessed with the stone. Gooey objects. Then lot 38 opens, the estimate is revised upward, and the bids run from $20,000 to $190,000, where Kevin wins it.

Asking for helpNegotiationPersuadingAskingFriendsC1slowamerican
IMDb ↗

Listen for

jack upstart the biddingagainst youconfer with your adviser

00:00 / 04:11
Space play · ← → lines · R repeat
Now
  21. ❝ MonologueThe auctioneer's opening8 linesPractice page ↗
Tap a line to replay it

Phrase of the scene

jack up

to raise a price or amount

霍华德求古伊在拍卖会上帮忙 jack up the bids，把欧泊抬到二十五万，好让后面的交易成立。

The hotel jacked up rates for the holiday weekend.

Also in this scene

  • start the bidding

    to begin the auction

  • against you

    bidding higher than you

  • confer with your adviser

    to discuss something with your advisor

Everything marked in this scene

27 notes across 70 lines

Phrase · B1ask someone a favor- He's excited. - So, I want to ask you a little favor.
Phrase · B2jack up the priceI need you to jack up the bids.
Soundjack up

liaison

I need you to jack up the bids.
Phrase · B2get something up to an amountI just got to ensure we get it up to 250.
Soundget it up

flap

I just got to ensure we get it up to 250.
Phrase · A2give something back to someone- What if I win at 250? - That's easy. I'll give it back to you.
Phrase · B2put someone in a positionThis is not a nice position you put me in. I resent this very much.
Phrase · B2resent somethingThis is not a nice position you put me in. I resent this very much.
Grammar · B2a nice position you put me in

reduced relative clause

This is not a nice position you put me in. I resent this very much.
Phrase · B2should have done somethingI fucked up. I should've got my own appraisal, but I didn't have the time.
Slang · B2assholes- Two hundred? - Yeah, but these assholes...
Phrase · B2based off somethingMy guy at the AGL says 500 just based off the pictures.
Slang · B1My guyMy guy at the AGL says 500 just based off the pictures.
Phrase · B1be a partner with someoneSo, 20% I'll give you for the winning bid, to be a partner with me.
Grammar · B2I'll give you for the winning bid

double object

So, 20% I'll give you for the winning bid, to be a partner with me.
Phrase · B2be obsessed with somethingKG is gonna buy it. It's not a problem. This guy is obsessed with the stone.
Phrase · B1show supportTo show support. That's what today was supposed to be about.
Phrase · C1a sale-room noticeWe have a sale-room notice.
Phrase · B2a revised estimateis now offered with a revised estimate of $155,000 to $225,000 US.
Phrase · B2start the bidding

to begin the auction

We shall start the bidding now at $20,000.
Phrase · C1a great placeBid with you, sir, and a great place.
Phrase · B1try one moreGoing to try one more, sir?
Phrase · C1confer with someone

to discuss something with your advisor

190,000. Confer with your adviser now.
Phrase · B1a last chance for someone- Relax. Are you serious? - It's a last chance for you, sir.
Phrase · B1the rest of somethingIt's with you, sir, at $190,000, against the phones, against the rest of the room.
Grammar · C1against the rest of the room

parallel prepositional phrases

It's with you, sir, at $190,000, against the phones, against the rest of the room.
Soundrest of

weak form

It's with you, sir, at $190,000, against the phones, against the rest of the room.

Howard Riggs the Opal Auction, explained

What's really going on

Howard can't fix the market, so he tries to fix the room. "I need you to jack up the bids," he tells Gooey, then offers a cut: "20% I'll give you for the winning bid, to be a partner with me." It's a clumsy bribe dressed as partnership, and Gooey sees it: "This is not a nice position you put me in. I resent this very much." Howard's answer is an admission — "I fucked up. I should've got my own appraisal, but I didn't have the time" — and a rationalization: the AGL says 500,000, KG is obsessed, so the higher price is support. Yet the room does exactly what Howard wanted: an offstage bidder keeps answering "against you, sir" until the opal sells for nearly ten times its opening bid. What looks like demand is choreography, and the seller is the one holding the strings.

Theme

MoneyHoward treats the auction not as a fair price but as a number he can push upward to cover his debts.
DeceptionHe recruits a shill bidder and calls it support, dressing up market manipulation as loyalty.

What you'll learn

  • Use jack up the bids to raise a price
  • Understand against you in auction calls
  • Use fair warning for a final notice
  • Hear pressure beneath polite titles

Listen for

  • jack up — liaison
  • get it up — flap
  • rest of — weak form
This is not a nice position you put me in. I resent this very much.

Gooey says Howard has cornered him: refusing feels disloyal, agreeing means cheating. His objection is about being used, not about the money.

Well, this is support. This is support like you've never known.

Howard reframes a rigged sale as a favor to Kevin, turning manipulation into generosity. The line is his excuse for asking Gooey to help him cheat.

It's no longer yours, sir. It's against you, sir.

The auctioneer's standard warning that a higher bid has topped yours — here it keeps fire under Kevin and keeps the price climbing toward Howard's number.

I have to move this along. We have a good bid at 190,000.

The auctioneer pushes the room toward a close at 190,000. For Howard it's a decent result, but short of the 250,000 he was counting on.

Questions about this scene

Why does Howard want Gooey to bid on his own opal?

To push the price higher than it would go on its own. Howard needs the opal to sell for at least $250,000, so he wants a friendly bidder nudging the total up.

Why does Gooey refuse to help Howard?

He knows it's dishonest and that it puts him in a bad spot. "This is not a nice position you put me in," he says — if he wins, he's stuck; if he's caught, he's implicated.

Does the rigged bidding actually work?

The opal sells for $190,000, well above the lowered estimate but below the $250,000 Howard wanted. Kevin Garnett wins it, still insisting he needs the stone.

Who is the bidder pushing the price up?

Howard has someone bid against Kevin to drive the number up. The auctioneer's repeated "against you, sir" keeps the pressure on without ever naming who is on the other paddle.

Uncut Gems · 14 chapters

All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 10copaceticHoward Owes Gooey After the Auction
Chapter 1in your best interestCollectors Come to Howard's ShowroomChapter 2so extraHoward and Dinah Fight Then Make UpChapter 3a moot pointKevin Garnett Shops for JewelryChapter 4get your hands on somethingHoward Pitches KG the Black OpalChapter 5a memorabilia pieceHoward Pawns the Championship RingChapter 6play mind games with meHoward Tells Julia to Move OutChapter 7give someone another shotHoward Begs Julia for Another ChanceChapter 8bent over backwardsHoward Blows Up at the Auction HouseWatching · Chapter 9jack upHoward Riggs the Opal AuctionChapter 10copaceticHoward Owes Gooey After the AuctionChapter 11you're my homeJulia Comforts Howard After the AuctionChapter 12give someone the runaroundHoward Bets Everything on KGChapter 13get yourself togetherArno Traps Howard in the StoreChapter 14right out the gateHoward's Live Parlay on Kevin Garnett
Chapter 9 of 14 · about 21 min to go