Hi all.

I love this group. There are some great ideas being shared here.

I just wanted to know if anyone else loves auctions? They're really more for the champagne taste, beer budget crowd. So in that regard they can't be considered really frugal.

When most people think of auctions they think of Sotheby's or Christie's & some art work that sold for brazillions.

But most cities have at least one auction house & usually more that are much more reasonable. I've gotten some fabulous deals on great, antique furniture that cost way less than even some cheap, mass produced piece of junk from some box chain store. I've also gotten original art for not much more than a poster would have cost. I've gotten some gorgeous sterling serving pieces cheap that I can leave to my children. And the jewelry usually goes for about 10 cents on the dollar what it would retail for.

I love to go even when there's nothing I want to bid on, just to watch.

Does anyone else go?

:hi:

As a young adult my cousin and I attended a rural auction. He started slowly but really got too caught up in it. He and another young guy bid a hurricane lamp up to $32 (1970 dollars), the one you could get at any Woolworth for $3.99.

They can be cheap entertainment and you can sometimes get some great deals .

I always go to the preview, look the item over, check out what the pre-estimate guess it & set my price. Once I've set a price I never, ever go above it. I figure something I like as much or even more will come up sooner or later & I'll get it for my price. What will really frost my butt is when DH turns to me after I've dropped out & says something like "oh, you should have stayed in, you're bidding against dealers." grrrrr. But, once I've decided on a limit I won't go over it. Too afraid of getting caught up in the moment.

I've only been to a couple, though. I'm in a very rural area and there are auctions all the time. Wanna hear my favorite auction story? I thought so!

About 10 years ago my now-ex and I went to one and I spotted this gorgeous antique dresser and wanted it very badly. We bid up to about $300 and stopped as it kept going up to over $800. Then it was sold and everyone was moving off to the next item. All of a sudden the auctioneer came back to the dresser and said something about the buyer backing out. By this time only a couple people hade come back and he started the bidding again and I got it for $275!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so friggin excited I'm surprised I didn't wet myself!!

Mind if I show it off?


I've actually tried to sell it a couple of times recently since I went on SSDI. I'm kinda glad no one bought it!

good job!

That's what I mean about great deals. No way could you have gotten something that nice for $275 at a furniture store. Plus, (& to me this is the best part) I get something that someone else may have cherished.

I don't get to go to rural actions. They're rare in my area & the few that have been held are rip offs filled with salted merchandise.

You know, I would love to go to Sotheby's or Christie's some time just to watch the grown-ups play.

Oh, here's my best story. (I have lots, but this is my favorite) I wanted a china set for parties. I had a hard time finding a set I liked & fit my needs. I either didn't like the pattern, or there were too few pieces & to fill it out with replacements would cost to much. I got beat out on a couple of sets. I finally won. I could never figure out who the maker was or what the pattern was. I searched & searched. Well, Antiques Roadshow was in town so I won a ticket & went. The appraiser knew who made it & told me the tureen I brought in was worth 400 to 600 bucks. I told him that was cool since I had paid under 500 for 45 pieces. He looked at me & said "you done did really, really good girl". :rofl:

best

How cool that you got to go to Antiques Roadshow, too!!

These rural auctions are great. I'm originally from just outside Chicago so, these auctions were totally new to me. But, it's like a big social thing. They are mostly either farms & machinery or household estates. They last all day and there's a 'lunch wagon' so you can eat. Usually someone sets up a table with coffee & cookies, for like a quarter! Everyone knows everyone and they just gab & gab. Gives folks something to do. I love living up here!

And like you said, you never know what you might find! I never did find out exactly who made the dresser. Gave up after a couple years on the internets!

auction with my mom-she's the one that got me into it. So, it was at a doctor's house who had passed away & everything in the house was being auctioned off. A beautiful damask, down-filled sofa went for 5 bucks. It looked like it had never been sat on. I remember my mom bought some newspapers that were printed when Lincoln was assasinated. She had them framed & still hanging in her family room. I think she paid 30 bucks for each.

My dad had sent me some money and I invested it in antique furniture and then re-sold the pieces for double the price.
I still have the fancy 3/4 iron bed with the original wooden rollers on the feet ($235 bidding war) and a very nice walnut framed mirror ($27.00).

To keep the cost of advertising down, there was a radio show on the weekend where people would call up to sell their stuff.

This really helped at a time when I was going through a costly divorce!

Hmmmm, I feel auction fever coming on again!

I bought a 38 year old book for just a buck or two at a used book store. The author had gone through a divorce & shortly afterwards inherited a 4 story brownstone in New York. He tried to furnish it & realized that with the cost of new furniture he would be looking at empty rooms for a long, long time. Someone turned him on to auctions & he got hooked. The book was full of tips on buying at auction & everything he had learned. I've reread it several times, plus other books & learned a lot.

Auction fever here we come!

:hi:

I will be bugging you all for tips. I probably won't be able to until baby boy is a bit older (turns 2 next month) but I am bound and determined to buy an older home and want some peices to go in it!!Not too fancy, though,I like sturdy and comfortable mixed with a few nicer peices--a toned-down country look.
That dresser is beautiful, congrats!!

I know. When you're ready just give me a hollar. And I'm sure that goes for others here, too.

I can't tell you how much fun I have. In fact, we're going out of town for the holidays & the big preview it this weekend. I made DH promise we would stop in on our way home. I don't care how far out of our way it is, there's no way I'm missing it!

:hi:

I also need to wait until my active investment gets up and running to give me the extra cushion to go after the bigger peices I may find. I'll keep you in mind, and have a good shopping trip!!

ON EDIT: BTW; I live in NC; once a year down in Liberty they have a HUGE I mean HUGE antique sale in a FIELD with all kinds of things!! If you all are ever in the area; it is worth the trip! I will make sure I post next time it happens; it is sometime in the spring.

once a week. It was free to advertise what you had to sell and the prices were good. People would put up cars, appliances, groceries(we have Amish shops around here that sell bulk spices), produce-even services(car repairs, housekeeping, babysitting, etc). And businesses would donate gift certificates.
I got some great buys on there.

Basically, those of us who live west of Kansas have a dearth of real antiques, and it's better to get them in the area where they're plentiful and either ship or Uhaul them back to where you live.

She makes regular runs to the east coast for auctions and ends up putting up a serious markup for the trouble she has to take.

If you're into antiques, she says, be prepared to travel.