I went to my first auction the other day, woohoo! It was a U-Haul auction, and there was around 80 people there, (I think I'll do some calling of some smaller facilities, maybe a smaller crowd).

Anyway, here is the question: we previewed a unit and all I could see were loose piles of clothing and a couple trash bags full of clothes, the auctioneer started at $50, and without thinking, I blurted out $10. Is this like a faux pas, or is it acceptable if the locker appears to be less valuable?

Thanks for your input!

Thats what alot of people do. Instead of taking the first bid of what the auctioneer set it at, especially if you can see it is not worth what he is starting out at.

I cant read what looks to be handwritten. But from what I can read and see clearly this looks to be a certificate of shares, or stocks and bonds. Very interesting find. Would love to hear what the Auction House brings this.

Well I found a guy to take a look at it here locally, and will be making me an offer to buy it from me if he likes it. Hes a local dealer who specializes in Japanese art.

The dad grabs his crotch before he hands his 3 year old the cigarette. What's up with that?

and I thought it was a joint,

Thank you for your insight. Now to answer some of your questions:


I am copying directly one of my emails to some art galleries that specialize in Japanese wood block prints:

Hi,
I was hoping you can take a look at these 4 prints I have acquired. I
am hoping to get some more information on them, at this time I dont
know anything about them. Wanted to know when they were made
(estimate) ID the artist, and the estimated value of them thanks. They
are all professional framed. I took a magnifying glass to them and I
dont see any dots.

1. Artist Name: Unknown (supplying a closeup cut out of artist's seal,
all by same artist)
2. Print Title: Unknown
3. Dimensions: Professional frames are 16 1/4 x 20 1/4, the prints
themselves are 11 x 15 1/4
4. History of Print: I acquired them while cleaning out a storage
locker, on the back they are cataloged for maybe an auction or a
museum. Further details on bottom:
5. When and where print was acquired: In storage locker I bought two months ago.
6. phone Number: 210-257-5255
7. Email address: [email protected]

Catalog numbers on back of frame:
Print 1: GTD-1-2
Print 2: SCB-1-1  also has number 246 on it.
Print 3:"BLANK"
Print 4:SDD-1-1

Now as far as opening, I opened one of them to see if I can find some other markings, even a censor seal, which I never did find. This paper has actually been glued to the back of the frame. Which in either case is not good. Saying that more than likely it is a fake (which I am not 100% sure on as of yet) or by doing this they lowered the value of the prints dramatically.

The papers pretty consistent.

I generally tend to buy units that are in the $400 price range. I like it b/c I'm not into the unit for too much, I can afford to buy a couple units if I see good ones and I'm not dealing with total crap either.

I also tend to pretty much automatically buy anything less than $40 unless its empty with a pillow or something like that, look at it like a lotery ticket basically.

I rarely go over $1000 unless its a real specialty large ticket item I know I can turn around. Construction equipt is one of these things as I have lots of family in construction and can get them a deal and make a buck myself.

Watch it with that construction equipment, its getting harder and harder for me to unload the stuff.

Probable thinks that those old black rotten mattresses belong to DB Cooper and all that missing money was inside that bed, lol.