I have to admit that I have a love / hate relationship going on with auctions They make me nervous. Will I stick up my hand at the right time? Will I get caught up in the frenzy of bidding and pay more than I meant to? Will there be a better price for much the same thing further on in the auction?
I haven’t gone to a lot of auctions, but pretty much every time I have gone, I’ve bought something. Since I’m in the market for some new furniture, I’m planning on a trip this week to my local auction house. This is the season when the showhomes are slowing down for the winter season and former showhome furniture is beginning to show up at the auction house. Much to my surprise, they’re also selling the inventory of a bankrupt liquor store – so either I’m going to have a very merry Christmas or bringing booze to my friend’s houses if the prices are great.
My best buy at an auction was the hardwood flooring I put in on the top floor of my house. I managed to snag about 1700 s.f. of gorgeous hardwood for $3,200. I’ve also seen full showhome kitchen cupboard sets going from anywhere between $500-$1,500, bathroom vanities from $50 – $100 and stainless steel sinks for $30. That’s a pretty sweet deal. When we moved to this house, we passed a showhome garage sale on one of our trips between the two houses and picked up a bunch of pictures and furniture for about 10% of regular cost.
One thing I have noticed however at this particular auction house which sells pallets / freezers full of frozen food to get the bidding started is that people who are bidding don’t seem to know their prices well and often will buy food at a higher price at auction than you can find in the grocery store. I suppose they just feel the urge to buy something – anything – and get carried away by bidding fever.
When at auctions, it’s wise to visit a few times with no intention of buying so you can learn how your particular auction conducts their bidding. Do they sell individual items, then as bidding slows down start to group items, thereby giving you a great deal? Of course, this only applies if you want multiple items of whatever they’re selling. In that case, it’s best to hold out until the end as the house lowers their prices.
Hopefully I won’t get stuck with a case of sambuca. The last time I had that on my 21st birthday, I burned my arm hair off. And for my friend Wild Blue Yonder who has a Bailey’s addiction – I see that they do have about 20 bottles of that for sale – she’d be visiting my house every weekend if I picked that up. 
Jacq, you’ve reminded me how much I’ve loved auctions! Haven’t been to one in years.
Love the new look of the blog. I’ll go cruising to see what I’ve missed over the last little while. Did you find it hard to migrate your content?
Thanks Tracy! I like them too, but tend to forget about them as a great place to buy certain things. If they had better web-enablement or some kind of notification going out of upcoming auctions, I’d probably go more often. I’ve seen some awesome deals going through one in particular – but part of it seems to be timing and what the crowd is like. And it is kind of fun to just watch the crowd too. I just missed a sale at one of outdoor patio furniture which is a shame since I wanted to pick up a new set dirt cheap for next year. Ah well, I suppose I make do this upcoming summer and put it in my calendar to check next fall. I don’t have the patience to go running around for thinks on kijiji or Craigslist.
I had a really awesome guy do all the conversion over for me so I am totally not responsible for any of the look and didn’t do anything related to the migration. He was a dream to work with – especially for this particularly needy person.
Save the booze for christmas, we will have a merry one indeed!
(then again you do only live 3 hours away…..)
Muhahahaha
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Well, it is basically a United Nations selection of wine from almost every country – I’ll drink up the domestic and save the champagne and overseas wines for your visit.
And you’ll learn to like Frangelico in your coffee – you’ll have to because I’m sending a bottle home with you!