# Auction Rant



## Wdnich (Aug 14, 2014)

I participated in two auctions today. One local and one online. Both were foolish madhouses. The local one, I went too, to get two big block chevy motors that will go into a scarab racing boat. Oddly enough I got them at a rock bottom price, for rebuildable cores. I picked up a few other pieces that no one even considered.  Some older engle cam shafts that are no longer made, a couple of manifolds and such. The tools went through the roofNow the rant. People were paying 4 times what they could purchase new for most of the items in the auction. I watched a man dole out 5k for an identical Snap-on tool box to one of mine, and it looked like the Hulk had used it for bashing practice. (No tools were included) He was talking about he was going to put it on Ebay and make a nice profit. The online auction is even worse. I went and inspected the items, and what people were paying for them was outrageous. I all but gave up after the first 15 lots. 

Ebay ,TV and the internet has all but destroyed the used market in tools, and auto parts. People are paying way too damn much. I used to really finds fair deals at the auctions, but since the storage auction show, and the picker show it has turned unreal. Everyone thinks they are going to get rich and find that 100k treasure find.


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## GarageGuy (Aug 15, 2014)

I stopped participating in most on-line tool auctions, and even some live tool auctions.  Yes, the $$ people are shelling out for used tools makes me want to auction off all my stuff so I can go buy brand new tools.  I watched a used 11" Clausing tool room lathe sell for $35,000, and a used Bridgeport (DRO, but no power feed) for $12,000.  The dual head quartz work lights sold for $125 EACH in a lot of 12 (yes, $1,500 for 12 work lights).  I don't know if Grainger gets that much for them.  After those I just walked out.

GG


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## TOOLMASTER (Aug 15, 2014)

Depends on the auction.. I have got some excellent deals


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## Cheeseking (Aug 15, 2014)

35k ?    You mean 3500 right?   Otherwise Im thinking about auctioning off my 11" Clausing lol! 


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## GarageGuy (Aug 15, 2014)

Cheeseking said:


> 35k ?    You mean 3500 right?   Otherwise Im thinking about auctioning off my 11" Clausing lol!



Nope, $35k.  $28,500 actual auction price, plus 22% in buyers premium and sales tax (total $34,770).  I was blown away.  It was a nice lathe, but still manual.  No DROs or attachments or anything.  The attachments and tooling all sold separately, also for amazingly high prices.  Everything there sold for stupid money.  It was a contact lens company in Des Plaines, IL that went bankrupt.

GG


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## Cheeseking (Aug 15, 2014)

Wow.   That guy is a serious collector.   Obviously the thing had some major sentimental value.   They are cute little lathes but not money makers in modern industry.   I get flyers and email spam from 20 different industrial auction houses every day at work.   Part of my job is to keep an eye out for equipment being auctioned that we are in the market for.   To say I've been to a hundred of these auctions would not be exaggeration and I definitely agree the prices being paid can get nuts.   The buyers premium % the auctioneers charge have climbed along with the prices being paid.   Used to be 8-10%. Now 16-18% is the norm.    Bottom line is you need to really know the market for what your bidding on.   Everyones situation is different and sometimes yes guys will pay more than new for a pc of equipment when lead time is an issue.   But in general the small home shop type stuff gets bid thru the roof by little  guys.  (Like us!! Hehe).  
I vaguely remember seeing the DesPlaines auction you referred to.  Anything local i usually take the time and go thru the lot catalog.   If I were to have come across an 11" Clausing TRL I might have registered and been one of the bidders but not for 35k!!!    


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## TOOLMASTER (Aug 15, 2014)

22%..i would have left then.


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## Cheeseking (Aug 15, 2014)

I looked thru my stack of old auctions flyers this morning and found the one Garage guy referenced.   It was Ciba Vision and the only thing close to an 11" clausing was this 13" Harrison.   There were 2 Hardinge 2nd op lathes too but if they paid 35k for all 3 they still took it in the shorts!







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## CluelessNewB (Aug 15, 2014)

I don't think people paying too much for stuff at auctions is anything new.  Even 30 years ago I would see stuff sell at auctions for prices that were 2 or 3 times the price of a similar new item.  Part of it is the auction frenzy and the "need to win" attitude.  I laugh when I hear people say they "won" an auction.  I still attend live auctions and bid on some items online.  I do research, set a maximum bid and stick with it.  I have gotten some very good deals but I have walked away from many auctions with nothing and just sat back and watched the frenzy.  I don't think this is a new trend at all.  I do believe online auctions have created markets and increased the prices and demand for some items but also done the opposite for others.  I have sold some stuff on eBay that  I probably could never found a buyer for locally and I have found parts on eBay that 20 years ago I could never have found anywhere.


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## jim18655 (Aug 15, 2014)

I try to limit myself to 1/2 new price when buying at auction. I once went to an auction that had lots of wood working tools up for sale. I took a Grizzly and sears catalog along to check prices. Since I'm only an hour away from the Muncy store new is always an option. The stuff was well used, large piles of saw dust all over the shop. By the third round of bids the prices were just short of new equipment. A short drive and $25 would have purchased new equipment with a warranty.


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## Ebel440 (Aug 15, 2014)

The last auction I went to was up in Massachusetts and the prices I remember were around 20000 for a hardinge toolroom lathe and I remember haas indexers going for more then you could get a rebuilt unit from the factory.  Everything was overpriced the owner of the shop even put his own Mercedes up for auction after he saw the prices he was getting for everything.  I knew a machinery dealer at the auction who said all the machines were getting shipped to Asia and that  why the prices were going so high.


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## pdentrem (Aug 15, 2014)

A friend and I went to a local auction in the spring. He registered and I did a walk around. After I had done a couple circuits, he did his and joined me in the back. We compared notes and he then asked what I thought. I said "It's all coffee filter stuff" he asked what I meant. I said the good stuff is not here, just the dregs. These were the left overs, the good stuff was sold private or moved to another dealers place. All the stuff was rusty, modified, broken, missing something etc. I could see there were a few well healed guys there and the prices were going to be stupid. 
We left. No bids were put in as we knew it was going to be a waste of our time. The worst thing was we knew that there had been a lot of prime items but obviously they were moved or held back.

At least I got a good bacon and eggs breakfast out of it at a local mom and pop place.
Pierre


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## Terrywerm (Aug 16, 2014)

I think that too many of the auctions (particularly the online ones) suffer from having buyers that bid just to win and say to hell with the price. If they want it bad enough they will pay any price just so that they win.


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## Bill Gruby (Aug 16, 2014)

As I see it there are only three reasons you are outbid.

 #1 -- It's more than you wanted to spend

 #2 -- The winner wanted it more than you did

 #2 -- There was a third party "Shill" involved. I hate this one but it is fact.

 You cannot put a price on something that will make someone happy. They will pay whatever it takes. Over paidf or not, they don't care.

 "Billy G"


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## 2Tite (Aug 16, 2014)

Of course this all depends on if you're buying or selling. Too bad most of us are buyers (accumulators).


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## middle.road (Aug 22, 2014)

2Tite said:


> Of course this all depends on if you're buying or selling. Too bad most of us are buyers (accumulators).



_*Accumulators *_<---- I like that - very descriptive & fitting. Sounds so much better than hoarding :biggrin:


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## cvairwerks (Aug 22, 2014)

Another reason you can be outbid is simple spite. I was at an auction and beat a guy out of a 100+ ton press because he didn't have his bid number with him. No number at the close of the item and you bid is void. He got way mad and the hi-lo airpack that I was after, he made sure that I wasn't going to get it. He was dancing with joy and flipping me off when he won it with a bid of about 5 times what I would pay. Should have seen the anger in his face when I asked if he realized that the big Chrysler that drove it had a huge hole in the side of the block...1500 bucks for a 2500 pound paperweight. He hadn't inspected it and was bidding just to keep it away from me. Wouldn't have been a problem for me, as the guy I was there with, had a dozen or more of those engines in crates at his place and had already offered me one real cheap to get it out of the way.


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