The building is not very big and the vendors were crowded in the room. The vendors went around the walls and there was a row in the middle of the room for vendors. Tammy was in the middle row and not pleased about it. The middle row had an aisle on each side of spot and you had to choose which way to face.
Tammy and other vendors felt it was cold in the room. I got Tammy's blanket and gloves for her to stay warm in the morning. Here she is giving me the finger for taking her picture.
A steady number of people at the auction noticed there was an arts and crafts show also going on and came to check it out. Not a lot of people seemed to be buying stuff though. Tammy sold some stuff and got leads on people interested in having a party or buying stuff later. She also advertized her upcoming expo and upcoming antique and flea market show later this month.
The forecast had lots of rain for Saturday but we didn't get any. In fact the sun came out mid-morning and stayed around much of the day. It was quite nice. So I don't know if it was because of the bad economy or whether the weather forecast scared some people off, but the number of items brought to be auctioned was the lowest amount I've seen in over ten years. I think the amount of items was about 2/3 of the typical amount of items.
There was also a rummage sale in the school building next to the auction site. Here is what it looked like.
A bidding number cost $5. They claimed it was to pay for the security at the auction. I don't buy a bidding number unless I think I will really get something. So I didn't have a bidding number when the auction started. One of the first items auctioned by one auctioneer was a bundle of fence rails. Abut 50 rails in the bundle. The winning bid was $55. What a deal! There was five more bundles of rails scattered about the grounds and I decided to wait to see what those bundles sold for. They went from anywhere from $130 to $170 a bundle. This was more in line with what I expected.
I saw two other items of interest. A four foot HW-brand gate and an older Trek ten-speed bicycle in great condition. The odds were against me getting a good deal on the gate, but you never know. More certain was the bicycle. Bicycles tend not to sell for much at auctions. And mountain bicycles sell better than road bicycles. Earlier, the mountain bicycles didn't sell for much. At one point three mountain bicycles sold for $2.50 total. Later, mountain bicycles sold between $20 and $40. So I was confident I would get this road bicycle.
It was a nice bicycle. It was an old bicycle as the shifting levers were the old friction style shifters and not index shifting. The bicycle was a touring bicycle with a triple chain-ring and low gearing. The brakes were cantilever brakes. There was a bicycle pump with the bicycle and two water bottle cages mounted on the frame. A mirror was attached to the left end of the handlebar.
The gate and bicycle were in the last row of items to sell. The craft show was over at 3 pm and Tammy and I got the display packed up and loaded into her minivan before the auctioneers got to the items I wanted.
A second auctioneer started to work on the last row and for a while it looked like the gate and bicycle would be sold at the same time and I had to bounce back and forth between the auctioneers to see how close they were to the gate and bicycle. The gate sold first. Four other people wanted the gate and when the bidding was done the gate sold for $55. Jeez! You could buy a new gate for that price.
Then it was a short wait for the bicycle. Just before the bicycle was auctioned the backup auctioneer had one of the handlers bring over the bicycle to him so he could lift it. The bicycle was light.
When the bidding began at $10 my competition was the backup auctioneer. Once I bid $75 he dropped out at the next bid of $85. I thought I had the bicycle when another person bid $85. Who is this guy?! He looked to be a 50-something overweight guy. He certainly didn't look like he was going to ride the bicycle. He also looked like he may have money. I bid $95. He bid $105. I dropped out at $115. The bicycle was nice but I wasn't going to pay over $100 for a bicycle I didn't have a chance to test ride. While the frame size was large enough for me, until I rode the bicycle I wouldn't know if the other frame specifications were right for me.
I was bummed! I was certain I would get the bicycle and even spent $5 on a bidding ticket. I was in a cranky mood for a long time afterwards.
In a typical year there would be items to be auctioned all the way to where I was standing to take the following photo.
The sheriff's posse was also on hand for security which looked to be waste as having law enforcement on horseback certainly wasn't necessary.
Here is a 1:27 video of an auction in progress.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUG6aZY_6BI&feature=youtu.be
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