Auction Scores

flowergurl · #21 10/25/12, 10:28 AM

Woo-hoo auctions and yard sales are my favorite ways to pass the day.

I get so many great buys at auctions. I help my kids by getting things they need cheap too.
I get much of my material by the tote fulls for a dollar. I find clothes that are good mixed in with the material.
I get furniture, kitchen items, garden items, craft items, really most anything you can think of at great prices.
Some auctions here do the buyers premium, others do not. I go to both kinds.

beowoulf90 · #22 10/25/12, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael W. Smith

The flip side of this is if you are the one having the auction - and looking for things to go high.

I've attended many auctions in my day - and was always looking for a bargain. And if I got a bargain - I didn't give it a second thought - other than I got a great deal!

But after you have an auction yourself - you look at things differently. I've been involved with 2 auctions.

The 1st one was for my Grandmother who had dementia and was living in a nursing home. She never had much, but what she did, she took care of. When you are paying $3000.00 for nursing home care - you are looking to get as high of price as possible. But when you see whole boxes of stuff selling as lots - for like $1.00 or $2.00 - it's sickening. Sometime those boxes are packed with good stuff - and if it's getting to the end of the auction, you get nothing for it.

The 2nd auction was for my Father's estate after he had passed away. The siblings, step-siblings, and myself were looking to get everything over with quickly. Again, seeing boxes of good stuff go for nothing is depressing.

I know, I know, you are saying "Well, then sell the stuff outright yourself, rather than have an auction."

That's exactly what we did with my in-law's stuff this year. There was a complete house full of stuff that had to go. Luckily the house is on a busy street, so we didn't even need to advertise. They have a huge garage, so we got everything set up on tables, opened the doors, and put out the "Garage sale" signs.

We were open almost every single weekend all summer, but you know what? We made out much better than we would have with an auction! It took alot more time, but it was worth it.

I know the thrill of a bargain. But when your shoes are the one having the auction, you think different.

Just a side note..

I understand what you are saying.. The one thing I do when selling is know which auction sells better/high.. For example I know one auction I deal with that guns and stuff sell higher if placed on their bi-annual gun sale, instead of their weekly auction. I also know that household items don't sell for much at this same auction, but does at another auction house.. In fact some of the other auctioneers from the other auction house buy at said first auction to resell at their auction...

I too have seen family sell at auction and lose their proverbial rears on it.. $4,000 invested in restoring Victorian Era furniture, sold for less than $1,000. That's hard when the owners were hurting for money at that time and really needed it.. But that is the nature of the auctions...

Cash · #23 10/25/12, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by springvalley

How many of you remember going to farm auctions and standing by the hayrack loads of stuff and being able to buy stuff for a quarter and half dollar. I use to do this as a kid almost every weekend during the witer months. My father and I use to go to a couple auctions a week for awhile, and there were very few times I came home empty handed. I use to tell people that the stuff I bought at auctions was my smokin and drinkin money. Had lots of fun over the years at auctions, I went to one a coupkle weeks ago, and didn`t have much money so I didn`t buy anything , but boy I sure wanted too. > Thanks and Blessings > Marc

Oh my yes. There used to be an auction in western Waldo County here in Maine where you could fill a pickup truck with really good stuff for less than $10. That was back in the 1970s and early '80s. And that didn't count the "pre-auction" where stuff like old horse tack and broken chairs went for pennies. A lot of the local homesteaders rigged out their farms and homes from that auction house. Good memories. I remember one day an old farmer emptied out his barn and brought it in to sell. Among all the old tools and broken pitchforks was a collection of the nicest handmade wooden duck decoys you ever saw. They went for some serious dollars.