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sharpshooter

sharpshooter

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Going to an Auction Saturday, thought I'd see if anybody has any pointers??
It's an Estate Auction, plus some tax seized stuff, lots of tools, some equipment, guns/ammo etc. Little bit of everything
 
Get there early so you can look over the stuff for sale. Make notes about what you're interested in so that you are prepared for it when it comes up--MOST important, set a price in your mind and STICK to it. Have fun, and watch your stuff---things happen fast at a good sale.
 
1953randy said:
Get there early so you can look over the stuff for sale. Make notes about what you're interested in so that you are prepared for it when it comes up--MOST important, set a price in your mind and STICK to it. Have fun, and watch your stuff---things happen fast at a good sale.
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There's so much stuff, I'm guessing it'll take all day long. Do they usually start with the big stuff, or little stuff?
This 1 is mainly equipment, tools, a few cars/trucks/motocycles, some guns, lots and lots of hand tools etc. It's in a small country town, so I'm hoping it won't be crowded with pro auction shoppers..lol
 
Figure out what you want to pay for something that you want, then stick to that price. After the 3rd or 4th thing sells for way more than it's worth, sit back and watch all the dummies spend their hard earned money on worthless crap.

Guardrail
 
Some auctioneers will sell particular large items at a pre-set time, but for the most part they just have stuff set up on trailers and go down the row. Tools often sell for more than you can buy them for new, as people catch "auction fever" and way over bid. I've seen many people that come to auctions with their wallets, but leave their brains at home!!
 
Everything above is good information.

Check the ad it should give you inspection date(s) and time(s). Quite frequently you can go the day before the auction and inspect the items. Other times it's just before the auction starts. If you intend to bid (or even think you might) you should register with the auctioneer and get yourself a number. If you "win" an item you show your number and they take note of it. That is how they identify the buyers. Be prepared to pay for your winnings. Cash is the universal thing here but they may take credit cards or checks. If you are talking big ticket items payment requirements can very well be more strict. Like if you're buying a car, tractor, house, big piece of machinery of any type and you probably won't have that much money on you they like 10% payable by cash or bank check on the spot. If those details aren't in the ad you can get them by calling the auctioneer. And finally be prepared to take your stuff with you. That's not so hard to do if you just buy a hammer or a pipe wrench but if you get a lathe, a hay baler etc it's a different story and they should have listed how long you have to get your stuff out of there. Now of course nobody wants to leave their new purchase behind but I'm sure that auctioneer could tell you some stories from the past.

And they will often take the little stuff and sell it in lots. Especially if it's junk.
 
I'll probably just be a spectator for most of the stuff.
There's 2 things they have that I'd like to get, an old Colt .45, and an old Kawasaki motorcycle. The .45 will probably get ridiculous but, the motorcycle shouldn't get much interest, I hope.
 
Good luck and have fun. I will be a good experience no matter what you do. If it's a big auction there should be a hot dog vendor there so don't forget to make that part of your first auction experience. And it could well get boring if they get into a big rut of things you have no interest it.

Oh, yea, one other thing. The possibility does exist that they will have two auctioneers jabbering stuff off at the same time. One could do the household knick knacks while the other does the neat stuff.
 
some stuff may be sold in "lots", rather then pieces, so beware, you may bid on an item you really want, but end up with some junk at high dollars.

i would just recommend being a spectator for this one, but if you can't just sit back and watch, then as the others say, stick to your price, and even if it kills you to see something sold that you wanted, you may have paid too much for it anyway's.

don't forget too, that many things are sold, "as is, as seen"....that old motorcycle may look good, but have a bad engine......
 
I went to a tax foreclosure auction about 8 years ago. A guy 2 parcels over from me became a met head and let it all go. The guy was a total loser, had been a property owner longer than anyone else in the area.

The property was foreclosed on my the county for unpaid property taxes, about $3,500. The county had already evicted him, and cleaned the place up. It would have been a sweet deal.

I went to the auction, registered, and waited for the property to come up.

When the auction started, there weren't any bids. I waited until the auctioneer was about to make the last call and bid. Then someone else bid. And another. And another. I bid again. then the price got to about double the taxes owed.

I was out of cash.

And you had to have cash. That was the rule for the auction. No checks. Winning bidders had to be prepared to pay in cash if they won.

The auction was held in the county auditorium. I sat there watching as people won auctions and then walked up to the gal that was handling the transactions with briefcases. They took the winning bidders off to a room to complete the sale.

All I could think about was how much cash was walking into that auditorium in the briefcases. Most of the auctions closed at under ten grand. I had eight. The property went for $9,500 or so, I can't remember the exact amount.

Anyway, most of the bidders did that sort of thing for a living. Same for the guy who got the meth heads property. He made some good money on that deal. The couple that bought it paid $180,000 for it. Now the county probably made the auction winner pay some of the cleanup costs, but I don't know for sure. The loser that lost the place had several singlewide trailer homes on it, and a bunch of derelict cars and trucks, even a bus. And lots of junk. The cleanup crews were there for a couple weeks with 2 excavators and end dump tractor trailers hauling crap out of there all day long.

A couple months later a for sale sign went up, a nice young couple with 2 kids bought it, moved in a triple wide manufactured home, built a barn and put 2 horses on the place.

The neighborhood is a good place again now that the loser is gone.
 
If the weather is bad It will be good for you. That usually keeps a lot of dreamers & amateurs away. The professionals usually know the value of items & won't go over that. As was mentioned go the day before & take notes & write down the auction numbers of items you are interested in. Look closely & objectively at the items you are interested in. At most of the auctions I have attended tools usually go for about half price or less. The recreation items usually sell for more than they are worth. Compare the value of the items you are interested in with new prices or check Ebay. As was stated earlier people often pay new prices for used items at auctions. Usually people get bored about halfway through & the better buys are often sold later in the auction. Often the auction company will hold the better items till later in the auction to keep bidders on site. Auctions are good entertainment for people watchers. It is fun to see people go wild while bidding. Women often don't like to be outbid & will run the item through the roof just to win. As was mentioned this might be a good one to be a spectator if it is your first. Also as was mentioned you will have to register & get a bidder number . Have fun!
 
Thanks for all the advice, I've already decided to only bid on the bike, and only go to 600 bucks. The rest of the time, I'll just enjoy the show. Unfortunately, it'll be sunny, with a high of about 70, so I'm expecting a crowd.
They put pics of everything on their website, and viewing starts at 8am, bidding at 10am
This is the bike, says only 3200 miles, prolly hasn't run in a few years

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And here is the Colt Gout Model, marked United States Property I expect that'll go for more than it's worth. People are real gun crazed round here..lol
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I'm really curious what this will go for, it's an 07' 2500 with 20k miles on it.

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I have been to a few farm auctions.
You gotta listen real close to the auctioneer so you know what dollar amount he,or she is calling.


Whatever you do,don't make any sudden moves as you may win a bid on something you didn't want.
 
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The only way I could figure out the current bid is to listen to the opening and keep track of it as it went up.
And yes picking one's nose or scratching their ear at an auction nets unwanted merchandise.
 
Apostolic said:
I have been to a few farm auctions.
You gotta listen real close to the auctioneer so you know what dollar amount he,or she is calling.


Whatever you do,don't make any sudden moves as you may win a bid on something you didn't want.
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ABFer said:
The only way I could figure out the current bid is to listen to the opening and keep track of it as it went up.
And yes picking one's nose or scratching their ear at an auction nets unwanted merchandise.
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These two things refer to something else you might want to look for while you're there and learning. There are some auction savvy people out there who don't want anyone else to know that they are bidding. So instead of holding up their hand or their number they make a subtle gesture like rubbing their nose or tugging at their ear lobe to indicate to the auctioneer that they are bidding at the current price.
 
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It was interesting but, pretty much a waste of time..lol. bids on stuff just kept going up and up and up, I looked at guy next to me and asked "are these people insane?"

That blue motorcycle (Ninja 250) went for 1350, and it was rough. I had 500 written on me sheet


Didn't wait around to see what that gun went for, they were doing those last.

The Suburban was absolutely mint and went for 30k, I actually thought it would have went higher.
There was a mint Harley Heritage Softtail, that, the way people were drooling over it, I thought it would have gone higher but, it sold for 8200. Same for a Victory 8-ball.

All in all, it was cool but, probably won't go to another.
 
Thanks for your auction report sharpshooter.
I know I don't go to many auctions as some bidders are like you say crazy.

I just go to some to enjoy the show for the first hour or so.

I have yet to win any bids,because the stuff I'm interested in, goes for more than I want to pay.
 
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