Hey guys, I am attending my first auction friday with my finance company. Other than the freezing temps and the snow and rain :eek2 , what can I expect? Any tips or good auction stories??
Take money lots of it. and do not take wife/girlfrend.
Whos the auction company ? You have to really watch the auctionneer if you never been to a auction and your not used to the speed these guys belt out the bids. At the Ritchie Bros auctions you have a bid book with a number on it when you are bidding on a machine you flip the book up to the spotters in front of the crowd. The auctioneer is watch the the spotters. Once the spotter has seen you they keep a eye on you to see if you are going to out bid the other guy. If the price is higher you want to pay you usually shake you head at the spotter that is watching you your not interested in going any higher and they move on to the next person. You get to the auction site and inspect the piece of equipment you want to buy throughly. If there is a lot number on it write it down or remember it which one you want because when you get a lot of all the same thing say a bunch of P/U trucks they are all white F-350 4x4 reg cabs its hard to tell which one you were looking at and the one you want in the heat of the moment. You start bidding on the truck and you win the highest bid and find out oh crap you got the truck with the highest mileage. Like I said inspect the thing you want carefully as auctions you can end up buying a POS with a new paint job.
I have to agree with Ford LT-9000. Get there ahead of time and really inspect the gear. Be careful in the heat of the moment not to bid against yourself. Some of those auctioneers can really get their lips going and it can be confusing at times. As far as stories well...there was this auction last saturday and a certain fella was egged on by some friends and well .......here's what I bought '81 Ford 3 ton, 32 000 kms. Showroom condition. That certain fella also sold it 4 days later and made a grand. :drinkup
good tips and stories fellas.....The only thing is I am not actually buying equipment,,,,just helping out with financing.....I am in Virginia right now,,,,I hope this snow stops....Do auctions ever get cancled>?