Auction Scene #10...October, 2012

So far everything listed this month has either been canceled or postponed. Not sure what is going on around here? Are that many people really paying up? Gonna be a long month of nothing. Ugh!

Well half-way through the month and it's not been good. Very few units up for auction. ALL were junk. Crowds are down, but the newbies are winning all the units. They have no freaking idea how to judge a room! It's just a "Win at all costs, to break into the business" strategy. $25 rooms going for $150; $75 rooms going for $300-$400.


The "high fives" are back after winning a unit (I love how excited newbies get). For all you old timers out there; when was the last time you "high fived" your partner after bidding $430 on a 8 x 8 cubby hole unit obviously filled with used clothes and old (not vintage) used, broken Wal-Mart toys. Did I mention they had to pay sales tax too.


Meanwhile I'll keep picking from the auction houses. 

The "high fives" are back after winning a unit (I love how excited newbies get).

Now THAT'S funny !

*****

Meanwhile, pretty dry all right. I go to one set of auctions tomorrow (Oct 18) and next week auctions on 4 of the 5 weekdays...surely I can get SOMETHING !  (and don't call me Shirley)

PS run today.  I skipped it, but I've already been hearing stories!  I guess there are around 50 people on the run and outrageous prices still rule the day.  Glad I passed!

Went to an auction this morning with five units. 

First unit had two small tool boxes and adult magazines with some dirty clothes ($175)

second unit had a couple boxes with what appeared to be decorative plates, baskets, and some wire shelving missing the stands ($275)

unit three had three arcade games.  They plugged in the big one to show it worked, the second one was missing parts, and the third a dart board was to out of site to see if complete ($450)

unit four I really liked.  Had some taxidermy, power tools, fishing equipment, sporting goods, and kettle corn kettle along with so much more that was out of site. Was a 10 x 30 I went up to $1150 and watched it go to someone else.

unit five was also owned by unit four.  This one was full of construction materials and had a completely disassembled honda goldwin.  Didn't see much promise and dipped out at $650

Gonna try to get to a auction in a nice area tomorrow but my day is really full.

Went to 3 auctions today; same auctioneer.

1st place...had 4 or so. Nothing special in my book but one guy saw a 10 x 10 with a boxed flat-screen (maybe) and went nuts buying it for $1,025. Nothing special showing other than the maybe tv in a box.

2nd place...had 3 and a truck. Truck sold for $500. One big locker showing an old stove with white enamel features sold for$800.

3rd place....had 2 (down from 6). First one was a 10 x 10 I think and had good (wrapped in plastic furn). I think it went for $500 plus.  Next one was 10 x 20 or larger and had wrapped stuff too. Auctioneer said it wasn't related, but looked  to me like it was.  Went for $2300 or so.

I did auctions at the big Public Storage MLK site over 2800 units.  They sold 18. I really wanted the first one but could not get it. It was a 10 X20 looked like a household from the 40s from the furniture and what was showing which included a gun cleaning kit some antique looking furniture. Went for $1700 I bid $1650 think it was to high when it topped $1000. Ended up with a 5X10 looked old lot of stuff poorly packed for a $120.  Got it cleaned out but not sorted.  I found a 14K bracelet kind of in the top of a box like it was dropped in accidentally it was broken. Weighs right about 15.5 grams gold value over $500 should get $400 to $450 for scrap..  It will be a great locker I saw an easy couple hundred dollars of other stuff with no real sorting. Going to hit another run tomorrow. Crowd was about 30 and I saw lockers going for way more then they should have and some reasonable ones as well. The one I bought would have been a $20 to $50 locker before the unreality shows started.

Well I have been busy with work and am not getting to hit the auctions like I use to.  New boss, new work, all that.

Anyways - I've made it to 2 auctions so far this month.  U-haul was a week late as they canceled the normal auction date.  Result was even more people paid up so only 2 units.  Nothing great, crowd about normal with a number of "newer" people.

Yesterday found me at one of the places that only has a auction once a quarter.  They had 64 units listed in the paper...was down to 21 by time of the auction.  Also, the place is under new management.  This guy changed it to a silent auction.  On top of that, 7 of the units had min bids and another one was a bid/hold for 5 days.  Crowd was pretty large - a good 25 - 30 people.  Many of the regulars and new 3-6mo newbies.

Now the min bids were nuts.  First was $40, maybe a $50 unit -- I passed was mostly junk.  The second was a $200 min.  It had some furniture in it, but to me was a marginal $200 unit.  Many others said the same.  One of the only nice units had even more furniture that wasn't busted up, leather couch, etc. and wasn't a min on it.  He also had a min bid of $40 on a unit with 5 kids bikes and a bunch of trash.  Now bikes I can sell for 10-20 each but it's getting to be the wrong time of year for that.

All in all was a nice day to look at some units but a general waste of time.  5 auctions next week but I can't make any of them.  My next auction is on the 29th.

Went to an auction today and I have to say it was almost like the good old days of two years ago.

Crowd was about 20 to 25, prices somewhat in line with reality. A couple of big lockers went in the $800 to $1,000 range but might have been worth it (for bulk).  Also, a number of lockers went in the $400 range and I think they will make money.

Three quarters of the crowd were regulars with the rest newbies. I didn't bid on a single one, but that was mostly from just not wanting to work that hard for the return on invesment. Many of the other regulars bid but didn't get the lkrs as some regulars from out of town were spending today.

Anyway, not an unpleasant experience, but one of those when you went home with nothing and not regretting it.

My report about the second half of the month is much better and quite interesting.

Crowds have seemed to stabilize. Average of about 10-15 small auctions, 30-50 large caravan runs. The "storm surge" from the TV shows seems to be over. Earlier this month and last month most of the units were junk. Nicer units are starting to pop up now. The great thing about all the competition being newbies is they can't judge a room so they don't know the difference between bidding $400 on a $200 unit, and than only bidding $400 on a $1000 unit. Thanks to the lack of competition, I was able to land some nice units at the end of the month. I would say that 80% of the crowd has been coming to auctions less than 3 months, and 90% of the crowd less than 6 months.

Did I mention lack of competition? The "Old Timers" have almost completely disappeared. Last caravan run only 2 old timers and they both left after first location. I spent the rest of the day with a crowd of people I did not know. I can think of at least 15 pre-TV show regulars that don't come out to the auctions anymore. I imagine when they here prices are starting to stabilize a few will make their way back out, but it was pretty surreal to think I was the "old timer" of the auction crowd.

I do have one new "young gun" that showed up about 3 months ago, and he has started buying a lot of units of late. He is fortunate that he didn't have to go through the storm of the TV shows of the last couple years, and he is getting into the business as crowds and prices are coming down. Me and another regular have decided to try to give him the education he missed by not getting into the business 2 years ago. The great thing about this guy is he is an open book, and he LOVES talking to the other newbs ALL about the business, all the treasures he has found so far, and all his limitations and weaknesses he has found since starting this business. I think we will have some fun helping him work on his "weaknesses". 

Auction Tuesday had 5 units. There were 16 bidders. 10 of which I had never seen before. This auctioneer is our advertiser so was a very small crowd for him. Usually the numbers are around 50. Units were not bad but went way to high for my taste. Two units went to one newbie and the rest went to regulars. I think all of the regulars were hungry for inventory. Lucky for me I still have boxes from the three units I purchased at the end of last month that I haven't put on the shelves.
November appears to be another slow month for auctions. Hope everyone else is doing better than me.

Normally, moving and storage auctions are some of the best to attend. 1. You usually get the entire household of furniture. 2. Most likely, the people had money otherwise they wouldn't be paying for professional movers.

Got my first unit this week:) had some cool stuff in it, a nice 7 foot wooden bar, all season tires, studded tires, sofa and recliner, 8,000 btu ac and 16 ft ladder. Anyone have any idea how much the bar should go for?

I would do a search for bar/game room furniture and try to find something similar. Lower the price some and put it on Craigslist. If you don't get any bites after a few weeks, lower the price a little bit more.

Monday was my 3 facility late in the day auction that I've done well at.  My daughter loves this place as they let her bid.  8 units at first, 8 at second, 5 at last place of the day.  Most of the units were low to ok.  Only one unit had any major value to it.  Crowd was 20+ bidders, compared to other auctions.  Many of the old timers, regulars, and a bunch of newbies.  This place draws them in many times.  I suspect it's due to the 4pm start time instead of 10am.

I bid on a few units, daughter bid on 2, and we ended up with 1.  Paid $40 for a 10x10 that had 6 large paint buckets and another dozen or so paint cans showing.  Sign in the corner said "professional painters", one of the advertisement signs you put in a yard when you are working.  I saw a shop vac, hose for a paint sprayer, vac, carpet cleaning vac, a toolbox, a eddie bauer bag, and a few totes/random boxes.  So I figured I'd go up to $40 on a gamble and see.

Well the eddie bauer is a 6 person canopy tent w/ screen front porch.  Looks to be all there in a trash bag and poles, ground cover in the eddie bag.  Most of the paint cans are empty so easy to dispose of.  The filled ones I'll try and sell or will mix with litter and dump.  No compressor or paint sprayer like I hoped.  Did find one of those large mix-fuel heaters for your shop.  A few random tools, gas cans, etc.  Wife is keeping a few crystal pieces that I found.  Overall I'll at least break even if not make some cash.  Depends on the shop vac, normal vac, and carpet cleaner vac working or not.