Hit the local auction this week, not as impressive as I thought

[bdhsfz6]

It may be different elsewhere, but I gave up on the local auctions around here. As posted above, too many fees and shill bidders to get any real deals.

 

[Jstpssng]

Are they anything like Ebay or Gunbroker? Those are the only sites I've used but the prices got ridiculous. I quit bidding on a Stihl Kombi power head a few years ago when somebody went over the maximum I wanted to pay... it ended up selling for more than the price of new.

 

[deserteagle71]

Are they anything like Ebay or Gunbroker? Those are the only sites I've used but the prices got ridiculous. I quit bidding on a Stihl Kombi power head a few years ago when somebody went over the maximum I wanted to pay... it ended up selling for more than the price of new.

My observation also. Went to a few auctions where people were nuts with their bidding, paying more for beat up worn equipment than they would have cost them if they'd just gone down to the dealership and bought new.

 

[two_bit_score]

Auctions are a better way to sell something than buy something unless there is an item you particularly want in the auction. If you are in business and attend the auction frequently that is bifferent.

Salvage car auctions are limited to licensed dealers, salvage dealers, recyclers and wholesale dealers. The same guys are there on site or online every week.

 

[BackRoad]

My BIL is an auction hound...and I have gone to a lot of them with him.

There are still some local auctions that are NOT internet bidder enabled. I mostly stopped attending auctions with internet bidders, which seems to drive prices higher which is good for the seller, not so much for on-site bidders.

Most of my recent implement purchases have been from Fakebook's Marketplace.

I just picked up a solid deal on an 8' Harley Pro Rake in very good condition...but only after passing over a lot of wrecks online.

Auctions are worth "watching" to gain informed knowledge on the going price for used equipment, which helps to establish your highest price before negotiating a Marketplace purchase.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Well I tried another auction. Still left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. This is a local auction, their yard is right across the street from my work. So I can easily go over and check out the wares. But all of the bidding is done online now. There were 2 chinese minis and a box blade (for a friend) I was interested in this time. By the time it is said and done all three of these items will be at FB marketplace prices (or higher). I am convinced it i next to impossible to get a good deal at an auction unless it is some off the wall item that very few people would want. I saw in another post where someone accused auction houses of people bidding in favor of the auction house or at least their own item to bump the price, I am convinced that goes on. Anyways, rant over.

@BackRoad is right though prices on this auction follow pretty closely what you would see on Marketplace for a similar product. So that could help to inform a decision about a purchase on marketplace.

 

[ning]

I did well a couple times - got a practically new 5' rotary cutter (Land Pride) for $800 - I'd been watching "locally" (within an hour's drive) for years and only seen seriously beat up mowers. The cutter I got at the auction was missing a piece in the top linkage, which was about $30 to find online. Add ~15% to that $800 for taxes and auction fees, if I recall I'm in it about $1100 total.

Also got a 2 meter tiller (a bit over 2m outside measurements), cat I/II. Super heavy duty, completely unused though the paint says it was outside a long time. The tines were untouched. Immediately lost a tine first time I used it, but found it in the dirt; proceeded to pull every tine off and loctite them all. It's a monster and my 30hp PTO requires that I go really really slow in virgin ground, but I'm not tilling acreage with this. The slip clutch lasted three seasons and I had to scramble to find a bushing and the friction plates. That tiller was $1000 before fees; considering equivalent new prices I think I stole it.

Also bought a pallet of redwood 2x4's and made a bunch of large raised-bed planter boxes with them.

I did buy a couple air compressors that were absolutely garbage; pure loss. Considering the bargains I got before, though, I'm ok with that, caveat emptor.

For a while I was hoping to find a dump trailer or flatbed there but they're obviously getting top dollar for those; rather than go near full price at auction I'd rather get a top name with at least a pretense of a warranty and spec it out how I want it.

Auction place is inconvenient for me - about 1h10m away from home, so unless it looks absolutely amazing I'm unlikely to bother previewing which means I have to get it even cheaper... lately I can't be bothered to drive an hour for much of anything.

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

Our state has a surplus site for pretty much anything the state and capital city uses. When I am in the market for a vehicle I start there. Bought my last one there a 2017 f150 120k miles and $15k a little over a year ago. Had to put a water pump on it and now at about 140k we stay on the road again. They maintain them pretty well. You have about 10 days to inspect before the closing bid.

I still keep a loose eye out for the stuff on their site.

I liked it a lot better before they opened up online bidding. I got better deals... I have bought over the last 30 years:

A school bus
3 Jeep Cherokees
1 Ford truck
1 ford taurus station wagon
Misc things, desks, tools and such.

The mention of auctions makes me think of my dad. I went with dad to a farm auction some 40 yrs ago. He (like me) was hard of hearing. I watched him as he was getting hot n heavy bidding on a disc, that he thought was for a M tractor beside it. I told him what he was bidding on, it was down to him and one more guy. He shut up instantly, the other guy won the battle.

The ole school bus I bought i converted into a schoolie (even before there was a name for it). Nothing too fancy removed the seats, put in some bunk beds and a couple of couches. Took my scout troops all over creation in it. Horrible gas mileage but would go anywhere. Ended up donating it to them after I stepped down as scout master after 3-4 yrs.

 

[JasperFrank]

Last "auction" I went to had reserves that nearly matched retail new.... Pretty much everyone was as confused as I was, and walked off before bidding opened. What I really didn't like was that you had to be assigned a number before even getting on the lot. And this was a three page form.

 

[2manyrocks]

I was talking with another buyer at a auction in another nearby town, and he described the auction as "the place were all the broken stuff goes to get sold."

I looked at chinese mini-exs and skid steers in nearby auctions, but didn't bid because of so many posts on FB that said, "I just bought this _____at auction, and how do I fix _____________."