What good deals have you gotten at auctions? Any tips for attending auctions?

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~Happiness is a large family~

My hubby and I went to an estate auction last year and we bought a baby grand piano for $380! We were so excited! We actually figured out the estimated value of it when we got home and it was selling for over $4,000 (used!!). We had been looking for a piano, for myself and my dd (5 year old). We went to bid on the other piano that they were selling (an upright, 4 year old piano), but the baby grand came up first and no one was bidding on it. It started at $315, ended in $380 with only us and one other person bidding. It seems that more people were after the upright piano, because it went for just over $700. We got one heck of a deal! And it looks perfect in our formal living room.
At one other auction we bought an authentic Italian bedroom set! Headboard, footboard, dresser, night stands, and a tall skinny dresser (all for $120!) We have it in our master bedroom. We call it the "million dollar room!" It is very romantic!

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Married to a great guy 8 years, DD1 6yrs., DD2 4yrs., Noah turns 1 in June, Twins- Isabell and Isaac born in Nov. 07...
One busy household!

I love auctions! Prefer them to yard sales anyday!

My number one tip is get there early to look over the items and know what you're going to bid on and where you are going to stop. Many times I've seen people get into the moment of bidding against someone else and they overpay for the item that they're looking at. Also look closely at the item before you bid. My husband one time decided to bid on this American flag that he thought was an antique - needless to say he ended up paying about double for an old dirty flag that probably had come from Wal Mart just the year before! I think that was our worst deal.

Probably our best deal at an auction was a signed Wyland print that no one seemed to know what it was that is valued at about $800.00 that we bought for $50.00. We also bought a box of misc. cats, probably paid $5.00 for. I picked the ones I wanted to keep and sold the rest on eBay. I think we ended up making like $50.00 on that box of cats!

Dh and I have been going to auctions for years before we even met. We both had a few tricks of our own together we have managed to do quite well.

Research what you want to buy - what it costs new and used, what it is worth of it is old.

Get there early to look over the stuff, make sure it works and has all the parts.

Make sure you look over many things or all if possible - don't make it too obvious what you are interested in - there are people who shop at auctions as part of their business they pay close attention to who they are bidding against.

Make sure your conversations about the item are discreet, don't make a public announcement what you plan to go up to or how much you think it is worth.

When you are bidding keep the number in the back of your mind what it is worth - when it gets down to you and whoever do not hesitate in your bids, the pros watch this and gauge how much more they will bid the item up. If you hesitate it looks like you are close to dropping out - they will hang in there. On the same note watch the bidder(s) for hestitation, if you really want it you might be able to get it for a few dollars more than you hoped.

Pick an odd number that you are willing to go for. If you think it's worth $25 - set your limit at $27 or $28. Most people stick to amounts ending in zero or five. Almost everything we have won in a tight bid was to a weird amount because the person we were bidding against dropped off at a common amount.

DH and I love auctions, we have bought brand new living room furniture for a third of it's retail cost, DH got a utility trailer for his contracting business, we an also use it to haul his Harley when we go on trips - we paid less than half of what it would cost new (it was used only 3 times.) I have bought several practical things we needed around the house for pennies on the dollar of their worth. Some auctions attract huge crowds with people who have deep pockets - others draw small to medium crowds with many people just their to watch. You never know what you are going to walk into.

Hmm....this sounds like fun. But how do you all find auctions?

TIA

-Lucky

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Christine's Corner



Mom to Matt, 3 years and Catie, 7 months!

I've found that certain areas of the country are better for auctions than others. For instance, in CA a decent auction is hard to come by. However, in Idaho there are several going every weekend.

Look for auction announcements in the classified section of your weekly newspaper. The day that the announcements are printed will vary from area to area. In my area most announcements are made on a Tues or Wed, in time for the weekend. You'll have to watch you local newspaper for a couple of weeks to get used to which day you should be looking. The ads will be run by specific auction houses. Usually those auction houses have a website where you can see upcoming auctions and get e-mail updates on when ones will run. That way you don't have to keep buying the newspaper to get the announcements.

If you're going to an auction at an auction house (usually a warehouse), DO attend their auctions several times in a row BEFORE you ever make a bid. Some auction houses are just wholesalers and they cycle the same merchandise through to the public over and over again. You want to avoid those. You're not really getting a deal. And you want to observe how an auction works. Each auction house will have a certain style. Watch how the auctioneer assistants work the crowd. Plan ahead of time how you're going to handle that pressure. It also pays to get to know the auctioneers. If you really want a specific item or you're planning on buying a lot of stuff from them, it could benefit you to let them know. That way they know you're not there to have fun and run up the prices for their usual customers.

Yes, there are usual customers. Now a days you'll be bidding against people who buy items at auction because that's their business. The auctioneers know this and they will more likely end the bidding when their usual customer is about the win the item at a decent price. Again, you're going to the auctions ahead of time to see if you can figure out who is the usual customer. It is usually the person who is buying lots of stuff and tends to win the items they want.

Preview the items. There are usually preview days or preview hours. This will give you time to research the item before the bidding starts.

Be prepared to pay. Know the auction house's payment policy and fees. Yes, you really do need to pay for the item and take it home - RIGHT THEN. And you can't simply change your mind later and decide not to pay for it. That is highly frowned upon and not to your benefit. If the item is large and you really don't have a way to get it home, you can sometimes leave the item at the auction house until you can pick it up but remember - the item doesn't belong to the auction house anymore. If someone else picks it up and takes it, there is nothing the auction house will or can do for you.

Use the buddy system. In my family it really helps for hubby and I to work together. He tends to see the greater potential is some items. I however tend to be highly conservative about the bidding. Hubby knows not to purchase anything without me being there.

If the auction is at a private home, realize that many of the items you are seeing may not necessarily be from that estate. The auction house could have gathered items from other consignments. And don't feel bad about bidding on someone else's stuff. You're not taking advantage of anyone. They want to get rid of it.

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"Poor people work for their money. Rich people make their money work for them."

Wow! Thanks for all the great tips! Much appreciated!

-Lucky

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Christine's Corner



Mom to Matt, 3 years and Catie, 7 months!

I check out Auction Zip - Live Auction Locator - Find Auctions Anywhere!
I signed up for an email newsletter that tells me where any auctions are within a distance I specify from my zipcode. You can also do a search on particular items. Not every auction is listed on this site ... only ones by auctioneers who are registered. Around here almost all the auctioneers use the site - some post pictures which makes it really nice.

I attended a charity silent auction yesterday! Ok, so I helped organize it... but we also bid on the items and it's lots of fun. A silent auction is just written bids instead of vocal ones, and the bidding is all simultaneous. We got the services of a professional house painter for a day - for 175 Euro instead of 400 Euro!! Pretty happy about that, since we are renovating the house and there is plenty for him to do!!!

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~ mama abroad

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