Buying at Live Auctions for Resale Online

It's no secret that live auctions have existed for many decades. They are a major method of liquidation for businesses and personal estates. Most people can name at least one major auction house - Christie's and Southby's comes to mind. These are the types of places where Ross Perot sells the Magna Carta! There are many regional auction houses that also deal in higher end furniture, antiques, and historical collectibles. Butterfield's is an example. Both types of houses announce an auction months in advance and print a catalog for purchase and review. They set aside several days for preview of items available for sale. While fun to watch and follow, you won't find many bargains at either type of house.

Country/Local Auctions

What was once known as the "country auction" has gone mainstream. Every town of any size now has a local auction house. These houses used to advertise only in the newspapers and by word of mouth. The internet has given them much more reach. They can itemize everything they have and show as many photos as they wish. Several websites list auction houses and link to them directly or compile calendars giving listings of all auctions in a given radius on a given date. This has made many once obscure auctions very busy. There are still bargains to be had though if you do your homework and you plan to be in it for the long haul to snatch up the bargains as the crowd drifts home to bed!

How To Find Live Auctions

We use www.auctionzip.com to find live auctions in our area. This site covers many areas of the country. There are other similar sites that can be found using the major search engines. Many auction houses have both their own sites and they allow their listings to be published on these aggregated sites.

Established local auction houses that conduct sales on a set schedule do still tend to have yellow pages ads and to put small blurbs in the local newspapers and free circulars. Check the papers often. Auctions happen somewhere daily.

What to Do Once You've Found a Live Auction That Interests You

So, you've found an auction that's advertised some items of interest to you. Here's what you should do:

1. Print the ad and mark things that are of interest to you. Pre-research items on eBay and elsewhere to determine potential value.
If the auctioneer lists a preview day in his ad, go. This is your chance to look at the items up close before the auction when the crowd will be much smaller. Things at auctions are always sold "as is". You'll want to check items out as closely as possible before you bid. NOTE: Many country and local houses don't have a preview day. Instead, they will open their doors an hour or two before start time for you to preview the items which is why pre-research of advertised items is so important.

*Take your reading glasses and a magnifying glass with you.
*Take a note pad and pen. Write down the things you see that you are interested in bidding on. Remembering your research, determine how much you would be willing to bid. A good rule of thumb is to bid no more than 25% of resale value. On high end items of known value, you can probably set this figure at 50%.
*Take a small flashlight if you have an interest in larger items you may want to look under.
*Take a tape measure to get sizing on larger items you will have to transport.
*Take a magnet if you specialize in metal items.

2. Introduce yourself to any staff that is available and don't be afraid to ask questions. This will be your only real opportunity to do so.

3. Check on the auction house payment policies at this time. Many country and local auction houses take only cash or check with valid ID for payment. Some take credit cards (and charge you their fees for doing so in many cases). Some facilities charge a buyer's premium (a percentage above your winning bid) and some have a minimum bid. These things are typically posted, but if they were not in the ad and you don't see them posted, ask.

Go to the Auction!

Get going! If there was not a previous day preview, obviously you should go as soon after the doors open as possible.

Here's what you do first:

1. Check in at the cashier area. This is where you will be issued your bidder number. You'll likely need a government photo ID. The cashier will take down your name and address. You'll probably be asked to provide your telephone number. If you have a vendor's license/a state sales tax vendor ID or whatever it's called in your state, present a copy of this to the cashier and fill out the form provided. You won't pay sales tax for any auction items you purchase for re-sale. You do have a vendor's license don't you?

2. Find a good seat, find a good seat, find a good seat! Ideally, find one somewhere that's in straight line view of the auctioneers stand. If you're hearing isn't so good, sit near the front. Local auctions are often weekly community social events in venues with bad acoustics. It can get very noisy. Sitting near the front also affords you a better view of box lots. What's in a box when you preview it, might not be in the same box when the bidding begins. At most local auctions, boxes don't have individual lot numbers (often everything is from one estate). Things get moved around as people look at them. Unscrupulous bidders will seed many items of interest and value into one box.

3. Once you find a good seat, MARK IT. Put something on it. You'll want to look around more and chat with people you meet and before you know it all the seats will be filled. Also very important: Take a seat pad. Many local auction houses use metal folding chairs. You'll be sitting for SEVERAL hours.

4. Chat with the people near you. Many will be "regulars" who will be a wealth of information about the auction house you're at, other local auctions, the best houses for items you're interested in and so forth.

5. Pay attention to the announcements at the beginning of the auction. The auctioneer often gives out dates and locations of future sales, information about the origins of the items in the current sale, pick-up/delivery information and so on.

The announcements are over and the auction is finally under way - now what?

1. Listen to the auctioneer through the first few items before you start bidding in any new to you auction house. Get used to the sound and tempo of his patter. Many are very fast (to keep the auction and the bids moving). You won't understand a new, speedy auctioneer right away but you will adjust. Also, auctioneers do tire and switch off during the course of a longer auction. Styles in the same auction house can vary widely.

2. Pay attention to where they attempt to open bidding and where it typically works down to before bidders jump in. Later, as you start bidding on "your" items, you can use this to your advantage to come in a few dollars higher on more expensive items than where they would typically start. This will discourage other, more casual bidders.

3. Watch how other bidders make their bids. Often, the first time you bid you will have to raise your hand or your number and wait to be recognized by the auctioneer or a ring/floor man. After your initial bid, usually a simple nod will suffice for your subsequent bids on that item.

4. Watch for accepted ways to halve a bid increment. If an auctioneer goes from $20 to $25 for example, and you want to bid $22.50, you can single this different ways. Typically it is done by waggling the hand back and forth with the palm down or drawing a finger across your chest. The auctioneer has the option to accept or not accept this bid.

Things to remember when bidding:

*Remember your top price. Don't over pay. You'll regret it later.
*Factor any buyer's premium into your top price figure. Some auction houses charge a buyer 5 or 10% above final gavel price.
*When you win a bid, write down what you got and what your bid was to include any buyer's premium. You'll want this information when you check out. It also helps you to stay on budget.
*Watch for the collectors in the room. They want "it" at any price and will pay top dollar to get it...but sometimes, in the bidding frenzy, their top dollar can be lower than where YOU take them and you end up with an item you can't re-sell for what you paid for it.
*Seasoned dealers will be at any advertised auction in abundance. Don't worry about these folks. They are focused on very specific items and will stick to strict value/budget guidelines. If you're in the market for the same items, you'll win some and the other dealers will win some. It's not the end of the world.
*There are break points in the bidding process that many people won't cross. You'll win lots of auctions if you're willing to break a five, twenty, fifty, or $100 dollar bill on an item! Bid $6, bid $22.50 or $25 (different auction houses raise incremental bids differently), bid $55, or bid $110.
*Pay close attention when box lots come up for bid, especially early in

What has the most potential of making me money on eBay or Craigslist...or anywhere else I sell?

Certainly, you should stick to the lines of business that you know best. We're "old paper" and book dealers and we primarily focus on those things at live auctions but we see lots of things that generate interest, sell very inexpensively, and do well for resale. Some examples:

Art
Autographs
Baskets (Longaberger is a huge auction seller in our area)
Beads
Beauty Items (Brush/Comb/Mirror Sets)
Bibles
Blown Glass
Bottles (Medicine and Perfume)
Breweriana (Advertising, Beer Lights, Bottles, Cans, Paper items, Swizzle Sticks...)
Buttons
Catalogs
China
Clocks
Coins
Comics
Coca Cola Items
Crystal
Die cast/Metal Vehicles (Ertle, John Deer, Tonka)
Disney Items
Dolls
Glassware (Fenton and Fostoria are popular in our area)
Gold Jewelry
Golf Gear
Figurines
Fishing Gear
Halloween
Hand Tools and Power Tools
Hunting Gear
Kitchenware
Magazines
Maps and Nautical Charts
Marbles
Military Items and War Memorabilia
Movie Memorabilia
Music Related (Instruments, Records/Albums, Sheet Music, OLD Band Tee Shirts...)
Model Trains
Non-fiction Books
Older Costume Jewelry
Pens
Photographs
Pocket knifes
Postcards
Posters
Pottery (Native American, Local)
Purses
Railroad Items
Radios (vintage)
Shaving Items
Stamps
Smoking/Tobacco Related (Lighters, Cases, Advertising...)
Sports Memorabilia (Cards, Equipment, Clothing, Programs, Pennants...)
Toys

And, much, much more. Search eBay categories that are of interest to you for high value sellers or check out items that are frequently advertised for your local auction house(s) and see if there is a market for them on eBay.

We would remind you what we said about bidding on items that there have a collector base in the room. Sometimes you just have to refocus on other areas or, if that's not really possible, leave and save your money for another day. It's pointless to try and outbid a collector in any of the above named areas. We have gone to auctions where we had both heavy collector and dealer competion in the room for the things that were of primary interest to us. Rather than leave the auction, we left "our" usual items to those folks and focused on things in our line that they overlooked in their quest to get their desired objects at any cost. We've done VERY WELL with this strategy and avoided having a "lost day" at the auction.

The Bidding is Done (or I'm Out of Money), Now What?

When it's over - or when the last thing you were interested in sells - it's time to pay the piper. Get in line and wait your turn. Remind the cashier when you get to the window that you are tax exempt. The cashier will go through all of your tickets (most local houses have not joined the computer age but we're occasionally surprised) and calculate your total. Check this against your notes and check your tickets. Things do get mixed up sometimes.

So there you have it - everything you ever wanted to know about live auctions. Get out there, getting bidding, and have fun. Good luck!