Missed Opportunity :(
 

Went to a family estate auction on Saturday and missed out BIG TIME because I wasn't paying close enough attention... Things were going WAY low and I missed out on a 1952 2-Ton truck... I don't know what condition it was in, but it was sitting there with air in six tires & all body panels still attached...

I turned around about 12 seconds before the auctioneer slapped the table for the winning bid at $400.

I wanted to cry, but I held it together and bought a box of greese guns instead.

Re: Missed Opportunity :(
 

:no:
That sucks. But theres more out there friend. Keep lookin.
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Re: Missed Opportunity :(
 

I wasn't really looking, just couldn't believe it went that low... For that price, I would've turned it into a yard ornament!!

At first I thought it went for $4K... then I realized it was $400... that's when I almost curled up in the fetal position in the middle of the field. But, the good thing is it went to a family member of the original owner.

Re: Missed Opportunity :(
 

'' that's when I almost curled up in the fetal position in the middle of the field.''

yeah i do that alot in the bed of my truck -lol

Re: Missed Opportunity :(
 

I've been there done that a few times myself. I went to an auction a few months ago and had looked at a couple of things that I thought would go pretty high and while I was in line to pay for what I did buy (got some bargains) those pieces went for pocket change. I think people had gotten tired of bidding by that time and if they thought a guy really wanted it they didn't bid against him.

I'd wonder if the "family member" really wanted the truck or if he was just trying to run the bid up a bit and got stuck with the truck. I went to one auction like that and finally quit bidding and left when I figured out that I was bidding against family members too often. A friend ended up paying twice what a Falcon Ranchero was worth at the same auction because someone had run the bid up on her. The guy suggesting she up her bid ended up being a shill for the auctioneer and I had already left and wasn't able to say anything.

Re: Missed Opportunity :(
 

Unfortunately in person and online you always need to watch for shills. I go to a lot of multi day estate sales and there are a few "dealers" that have everything way over priced so they can offer the family a deal at the end on the unsold items. The "dealers" also bring in their own stuff to sell usually at a better price than the familes stuff. When we see their signs in the yard we just drive on by. I have often wondered if there is a reason at the collector car auctions some of the "bidders" seem to be over familar with the auctioneers.

Re: Missed Opportunity :(
 

That is one reason I won't go to one auctioneer's sales up here anymore Orrie. He is in the habit of bidding on and buying the item himself if the price seems too good on something he thinks he can sell for a big profit later. Has his guy bid on it for him.
Another auctioneer in the same area up here will sell an item for starting bid every time if he doesn't get a second bid. I've been happy every time I go to his auctions and the person having the sale usually comes out pretty good because people know it's an honest auction and they aren't bidding against shills.

Re: Missed Opportunity :(
 

There was a lot of family bidding at this auction. My GF is a granddaughter of the estate that was being sold, and some of the family wasn't given the option of coming by before the auction to pick out some momentos. So, we "bought some memories" this weekend. The one thing I can say (about this auction anyway) is if a family member REALLY wanted something they got it, regardless of the price it went for. I actually ended up bidding against her dad on one item; he realized it before I did, but we bid each other up by $20 before he realized it...

The family member who got the truck came from out of town... I was told later he came with the intention of buying either a tractor or the truck. The tractor brought 18X more than the truck did...