Crazy auction day

[Downstream]

I went to an estate auction today that was out in the country somewhat in the middle of nowhere.  Flyer showed 1988 WM LT40 HD and other woodworking equipment so thought I would check it out.  Cold weather, rural location, small crowd.  Turns out there were only a few of us that knew much about sawmills.  Even the auction guys seemed to not understand what the stuff was.  Lt40hd went for $9000 with non working hydraulics so that seemed high to me.  What appeared to be a belsaw M-14 without blade sold for $85.  A woodmizer auto blade sharpener went for $107.  I bought a woodmizer tooth setter on factory stand for $12 because to everyone else it looked like clamp thing with a dial indicator.   I also picked up an 8ft Joint A-bili-T jig for $25 and ended the day buying a never used fully adjustable chainsaw sharpening grinder for $45.  It was like I entered an alternate universe where nobody knew about sawmills.  I even bought a cardboard box full of stuff that nobody wanted for a buck.  Turned out to be full of wwii military items and two 1940's Italian Lire bills.  Good to be lucky once in awhile.

[sawguy21]

 ;D I love auctions. There are some screaming deals if the buyer knows what he/she is looking at and is patient.

[kelLOGg]

I was at an auction where a set of calipers were described as a graduated C-clamp by the auctioneer. :D

[moodnacreek]

In the '90s sawmills died like flies. There would be several auctions in n.y. alone each year. [now there ere none]  It got so the older, heavy machines sometimes got no bids. I kick myself for not buying more then. When I'm done somebody will get paid to clean the mill here. Todays generation only recognizes electronics.

[mike_belben]

I worked at a machine shop from 13-17 and it got auctioned when i was about 24.. Just as the scrap boom was starting. There was stuff laid out that i KNEW was broken but they [posnick] would not let you take it off the table and plug it in on inspection day.  

It was packed. Prices were 70-80% of retail before taxes and auctioneer premium.  No thanks, when i need a pair of mic's ill call MSC.  In the spotlight of auctions people forget their heads and the auctioneers job is to find those fools and put them against each other.  It can be a pretty terrible format for the antsy buyer.  A fool and his money...

[ktm250rider]

Its only a single data point but ive been turned off to auctions.  Went to one years ago interested in a wood splitter.  I was branded new and I figured if i could get it for 1/2 price Id be happy.  Bidding opened at $750 and went to $2100.  It was a $2000 splitter.  I stayed for a few more items.  All seemed to be going at retail prices.

[Downstream]

Im normally in the auctions are a waste of time/money crowd, but Im looking for antiques and salvage items I can use to make my live edge furniture that I sell so checking some out to see if I can buy at prices that allow me to convert and make money on the finished product.

[alan gage]

I used to think it was great to spend all day at an auction just watching thing sell whether I got much or not. Now I'm more likely to take a look around, leave a bid with the auctioneer, and come back later to see if I got anything.

Sometimes if there's a lot I'm interested in I'll still spend all day at one. It can be fun. Some auctions go crazy high, some crazy low, and some go both ways.

You need to be good at telling yourself "no" or else you can find yourself with a truck full of junk that was just too cheap to pass up.

Alan

[samandothers]

Many auctions today appear to be internet.

[Two Trax]

Been to very few auctions where there were good buys. Seems everything I am interested in goes for too high of prices. Of course you always hear of great buys being had. My opinion is on average you have to go to a lot of auctions to get a few good buys...

[alan gage]

Recent auction purchases of note:

Cobbled together log splitter/buzz saw combo with engine that didn't run. Left bit with auctioneer and came back to find I'd gotten it for $50. Next week I bought a 3 year old splitter for sale just down the road so instead of fixing up that old one listed it for $200 and had a dozen people interested.

At the same auction bought a Yamaha electronic keyboard for $1 for the 6 year old boy I was with. He got a solid hour worth of entertainment out of it and the next week I sold it for $65. We used the money to buy him his own tool box and tools.

Drove 1 1/2 hours on a beautiful fall day when I should have been doing other things and spent all day an the auction. Got a Woodmaster 18" planer with pro kit for $1600 (fair price), Laguna 16" bandsaw and lots of blades for $600 (great price), some sort of industrial conveyor for $40 (sold next week for $150), just shy of 5000 board feet of rough sawn hardwood for under $1000 and close to 1000 board feet of cherry and hickory panels (from cabinet factory) for $250.

Clean and functioning refrigerator for $20

Nice draw knife for $1.

Clamps, screws, drawer slides, electric motors, cabinets, ladders and shelving units for peanuts.

Right now around here regular household auctions don't seem to be bringing much money at all. Some really good buys can be had on nice old furniture and tools. Larger machinery auctions seem to draw a more targeted audience from farther away and it seems harder to find those great deals.

Alan

[curved-wood]

I bought a 5 faces moulder for $2200 ! Run on the 550 volts and think tha's why the price was so low. You could have bought a 14'' table saw with power feed for $250. There was another moulder that was sold $11000, a Johnsered 3 years old ; the company bought it few years before and paid around $90,000; it came with extra heads , special blower and the complete electric panel.  Quite a bargain . On the other hand at the same auction people were paying  more than bran new tools if it was running on the 220V. The auctionner even sold a bunch of cans of paint already open, like left over ! You just dont know if the paint is just a solid block and what about the choice of color !  Sometimes customers are hard to follow, and shure a good auctioner know that