Selling at auction houses

I have a few nearby auction houses that I buy and occasionally sell at. After recently buying a huge estate I am looking for ways to sell some items. For the last month or so I have noticed that the auction houses are not getting many buyers and as a result stuff is selling dirt cheap. This is a good thing when I am buying but at the moment I'm more interested in selling. Has anyone else noticed the lack of buyers at auction houses lately?

Has anyone else noticed the lack of buyers at auction houses lately?

I haven't been to an auction house in years but am thinking of starting up again. Meanwhile, there are two locations 50 miles apart and though they were both started by the same company 6 months ago, one is already shut down and the other has cut back their schedule. Guess that says something.

What I noticed in my area was a slight uptick in buyers, lookie-loos at auction houses about a year and a half to two years after the storage auction TV shows. It didn't last long, maybe six months, and I attribute it to storage auction newbie wash outs who were looking for another way to get into the re-sale game.

Generally at the auction houses now it's mostly dealers/store owners with some collectors and the occasional retail customer looking for something for their home. As far as prices go, I believe the market has been flat for awhile if not trending downward if you compare prices of furniture and household goods sold at auction to food, gas other things in the retail marketplace. Then again, I was speaking with one of the owners of a local antique store who acquires her inventory from auction houses and she feels prices are still too high. That tells me the retail consumer/end customer is not paying any more now for furniture, collectibles, household goods then they were a few years ago.

I sell furniture at auction houses and it seems to me prices are flat. No growth in realized prices today compared to several years ago. The difference is Craigslist customers (in my area) are trending downward on what they are willing to spend and in many cases furniture and household goods sold at auction houses is now meeting the same price level as selling on Craigslist. It use to be auction houses was the fast money but you were going to take a 50% hit or more compared to selling it yourself on Craigslist. Currently, those numbers are coming closer together.

I buy quite a bit at 2 local Auction houses.

1, I buy around $200-500 per Saturday night.
2. I have been gettting $900-$2000 per Monday night.

Mixture of Furniture, knives, Furniture, Toys, Small Appliances, Furniture.

Bought 50 HP Printer Cartridges for $150.  6 days later all gone for total of $1250.

Knives go into my convenience store.
Furniture - all wood, we Chalk Paint and resell at silly prices.
Coffee tables - $3-$13  Sell - $75-125
Side Tables $3-10      Sell $30-50
Beds $7-30      Sell $50-250
Dressers $10-30     Sell $75-285
Tables & Chairs $5-45    $100-300

Best part - my 11 year old Son loves to go, so it is something we do together and maybe he learns something.