This was another auction with low to average attendance. Prices ranged from cheap to reasonable. There were a couple of items that caught my eye: a new pair of snowshoes and 4 ft and 6 ft metal farm gates.
It was a looong day. This was partly due to the amount of stuff and partly because of how the auctioneer ran things. First, the auctioneer didn't have a professional alternate to give him a break. His alternate was a young man with no auctioneering skills. I could have done as good a job as him and I'm no auctioneer.
Second, auctioneer was trying to squeeze as much money as possible out of stuff being auctioned. This goes into the "penny wise, pound foolish" category. This slowed down the auction which contributed it to going way overlong. With long auctions, people don't stay and by the end only a small group is left to bid and they don't bid on stuff they don't really want unless they get it next to nothing.
When I arrived after 11 am they were auctioneering collectible and general household stuff from the garage. However, as the auction also included the house and property to be auctioned at noon, they moved from the garage to the house. This left half the garage left to be done. Once the auction on the house was over the auctioneer moved to the cars, tractors and Quonset stuff. The auction didn't return to the garage until many hours later and by then only a dozen or so bidders were left. The people who had been interested in, and buying stuff from, the garage were long gone.
The auction of the house and 5 acre property failed. While the auction said they didn't have a reserve on the house and property, they did give the owner the right of refusal on any amount under $275,000. The difference between that and a reserve is beyond me. The highest bid on the house and property was $230,000. The auction was stopped and the auctioneer and owners consulted for 10 or so minutes before refusing the bid. So, that was all a waste of time.
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| Waiting for the house and property bid to be refused. |
The auction then moved out back to the vehicles. The two men third and forth from the left bought the 1952 and 1953 Cadillacs for around $450 each.
Here they are still auctioning some old vehicles. While the temperature was only in the upper 70s F to 80 F, the sun was hot. I, and a few others, sat in the shade inside the Quonset building where it was cooler and waited for them to finish. As you can see there was not a large number of people bidding.
The gates I wanted were just inside the SW corner of the Quonset. I waited for them to finish with the vehicles and vehicle parts outside, which were mainly on the west and NW side of the Quonset. When they did come into the Quonset, they came in the east side of the Quonset.
I left. I had been there almost four hours at it was 3 pm and I was hungry. I also had to get some groceries. I had time to take a break as the Quonset was huge and full of tools, car parts, and miscellaneous collector and general stuff.
I came back a quarter to 5 pm. I was a bit worried I was late as I was afraid they may have gone down the north side of the Quonset first, then crossed over to the SW side. Only 1/4 of the stuff was on the north side. This could be another auction where I took a break then came back 20 minutes too late for the item I was waiting for.
Not this time. They were still on the south side and only had progressed 1/4 of the way.
Instead of moving things along and selling stuff by the box or bucket, the auctioneer was selling individual stuff from the boxes or buckets before selling the box or bucket.
I decided to wait even though it could take a while. In case something changed up. And it did as the auctioneer's wife asked him to sell stuff on the north side as some buyers were only wanting items over there and couldn't wait much longer.
However, once the auctioneer made it back to the south and west side he passed over the gates and other items leaning against the Quonset wall and began to work the pallets and trailer beds back to the east.
I waited. Finally when he was about 3/4 done with the south side he realized he missed some items and went back to sell them. The good news for me was that the crowd was even smaller at around only several dozen people.
I was the only bidder on the gates and stuff and got them for $5. By now the auctioneer was grouping stuff together and I got the two gates, a half spool of smooth (barb-less) fence wire, two partial rolls of new chicken wire and a small amount of small animal field fence.
The grey gates are the ones I bought.
A weather front came through after I bought my stuff. It had clouded over and threatened rain. The wind picked up and blew hard. The sand outside the Quonset door blew. As I walked back and forth taking stuff to my vehicle (in case it rained) I got sand in my mouth and grit in my teeth. It didn't help my eyes either.
By the time I carried the stuff out and loaded it into my vehicle they finished with the Quonset and returned to outside the garage. I decided to wait and bid on the snowshoes. While waiting for the snowshoes I bought a rake for $5. I bid on a stack of long 1" by 6" boards but quit bidding when my next bid was $22.50. They went for $20.
By now it was after 7:30 pm. The auctioneer is diabetic. Several times throughout the day as he auctioned his wife pricked his finger for blood and tested his blood sugar. By the time he returned inside the garage his wife made him drink a full can of some energy liquid and they had a small tiff about it. He chugged the liquid and then slammed down the empty can before returning to auctioning. Finally she made him stop auctioning and turned it back over to the young man who was in over his head. The auctioneer went inside to get something to eat.
When you think it couldn't get any worse, it did. By now there were only 10 of us left. The people left seemed to be waiting for specific items and were not general bidders. Stuff was going for a dollar or two, and if no bids the auctioneer bought it for a dollar or two. I had thoughts of getting the snowshoes for next to nothing. However two other people bid once on them and I had to outbid them. I bought the snowshoes for $20. Still a good deal as they looked new and unused. The snowshoes are Yukon Charlies, their 825 backcountry model. They appear to be on the low end of the snowshoe market, but still a good buy at $20.
The only other thing that caught my eye was a Belgium waffle maker that looked new. It could have been another 15 to 20 minutes before they got to it, and while it probably would go cheap, I also thought Tammy could already own one. So I called it quits, paid my tab and left. It was 8:15 pm and I was tired and I had a slight headache.
I think the auction was going to last until 8:45 pm to 9 pm as I think they had another room of stuff after the garage. An auction that runs from 10 am to 9 pm is a failure as most people don't like staying at an auction much past 5 pm. Several people who I believe were family members looked somber and unhappy by the end of the auction. Even my two usual "competitors" left by mid to late afternoon.
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