Lookey Loos Part 5.....May, 2011

Went to our first auctions yesterday in the Triangle area. First locale had 4 units up for auction. There were roughly 15-20 people there but only 7 signed up to bid(including me). First unit went for 90$ and the only real item of value was a pretty nice looking dresser. Second unit had two and a half ATV's(all yamaha) with alot of atv gear inside and a couple of older looking trunks. unit went for 225$(atv's need a little work). Unit 3 went for 10$(junk). 4th and final unit looked setup to me. there was a huge samauri style sword placed neatly across two totes at eye level(why not put it on ground or on top of other boxes on ground) and there were two guns that were placed under some luggage so you could just see the butts of each gun....hmmmm I ran into an old friend there who has been doing this for some time and i turned to him and we said "setup" to each other at the same time. This unit also had what looked to be a high-end telescope and a couple yamaha instrument boxes. There were also several other swords and the unit was 10 x 20 and was packed very neatly and went for 450$. My friend and his dad won the atv locker and they told me about another auction in downtown raleigh which the wifey and I decided to check out.

There were a total of 2 units up for auction at the second locale. There were a total of 8 people there with only 4 registered to bid including myself. first unit was garbo and went for 90$ old ratty looking furniture and an old tv 10x10 lkr. The second was a dream.....It was a 5x20 that was packed full of high end tools. you name it, i saw it....EVERYTHING!!! Looks like a small construction company kept all of their tools there. Makita, DeWalt drills, saws, powerwashers, latters. 10-20 large toolboxes which i assume were full as well. I wish i brought more money with me. IMO this was easily a 2000-2500$ unit based only on what i could see and it went for......1320$. Two regulars were going heads up and the lady ran outta money(she basically told me this afterwards). Selling stuff around the house as we speak to raise a little money.....

Went to the auctions yesterday, and after a couple of months of crowds and prices slowly dropping I thought the enthusiasm from the TV shows was over. Nope! A HUGE crowd, a "third wave" of newbies struck the auction circuit yesterday and they made it a bloodbath! (O.K. maybe not that dramatic) but the situation was most of the units were average to below average, and the newbies jumped in and ran everything up in the first half of the day. By the time of the last auction location, bidding came down to almost reasonable, and I ended up getting a 10 x 10 FULL for $325.

Went to the auctions yesterday, and after a couple of months of crowds and prices slowly dropping I thought the enthusiasm from the TV shows was over. Nope! A HUGE crowd, a "third wave" of newbies struck the auction circuit yesterday and they made it a bloodbath!

That "third wave" action is not a good sign!  I was also thinking the crowd situation was improving...and at the moment still think that way, but it will only take one big crowd to burst my balloon....maybe there will just be isolated instances.

Auction Hunters finale is Tuesday, May 31,2011 and then it will be re-runs for it and Storage Wars until whenever the new episodes kick in. Hopefully the crowds WILL be down through the summer. Hot weather should keep some away too.

Went on a run of auctions yesterday, these were listed on auction zip

About 30 people at the first few auctions, and only 6 at the last auction.

Prices seemed to be a little higher than what I have normally seen around here.  I did run into something on this run I hadn't encountered before,  the auctionneer, had his 25 yr old son bidding on units.  One guy told me half way thru the run who was bidding against me, kinda pissed me off. But I guess you encounter all types in the biz.

I did run into something on this run I hadn't encountered before,  the auctionneer, had his 25 yr old son bidding on units.  One guy told me half way thru the run who was bidding against me, kinda pissed me off. But I guess you encounter all types in the biz.

Could have been legit (though still questionable), or could have been a "shill"... bumping up the prices. Of course if he wasn't a good "reader" of the other bidders, the "shill" could end up winning it...and not really wanting it. 

Went to two auctions today by what I would call the "5th" most popular auctioneer in my area. That is, this auctioneer is way down there in the number of auctions done, but TODAY WAS A WINNER !

Tuesday, May 31, 2011.....good crowd good prices !

First auction had 8 units and I struck a blow for normal prices getting a 10 x 20 for $300 and looking very happy with it. I'll post a separate thread with pics later. I was up against a relative newbie who I have seen before and we were only going up by $10s. He was at $260 and I bid $300 and got it. He told me later I didn't have to do that, that he was not going to bid again if I had bid $270, but who knew, and for once the "bigger bid" worked...hasn't worked for months !

The crowd was only 12 people but most of them were big bidders (and my regular crowd) so some sense of "decency" kicked in and several commented there was no point in bumping me up. Favor will be retuned.

A couple of the lkrs didn't sell and one went for $1, another for free. THEN a big 10 x 30 with pretty good looking stuff came up and I would have gone $400 or plus on it, but was letting the other guys go....then it went crazy and sold for $1800. HOWEVER it was on a contingency...the lkr owner had 30 minutes to show up and pay up. We went to the next auction and a phone call revealed that the lrk owner HAD IN FACT SHOWED UP AND PAID UP ! Oh well; I told my friend he should be glad...I think he overpaid by at least $800....just to break even !

Here's the link to the 10 x 20 I got for $300. There are MANY pictures at that thread.

http://storageauctionforums.com/index.php?topic=1254.msg5619#msg5619

On to second auction and exactly the same crowd there. About 3 lkrs...nothing special. One 10 x 10 went for about $275...on the second floor too !  Earlier a 70's Pontiac Firebird (no engine) sold for $400 ..... the only bid. Some confusion though....now we're hearing from the buyer that he thought the auctioneer said something about a 400 block engine...that's funny, because he opened the hood and there was no engine !  Anyway, amazingly the auctioneer let him back out and it was sold again.  HOW STRANGE....the guy who backed out was now bidding again in the $60 range.

I think he KNEW he just paid too much. One of the guys wasn't going to let him get away with that and started bidding him up. ONE PROBLEM. The guy who was bidding him up got stuck with the car for $325. WHAT A MESS. And this was the guy who had bid $1800 on the other lkr earlier in the day.



Quite a day at 2 auctions, and a lot of "entertainment" from just 12 bidders!