10 Tips to Surviving Estate Auctions

For a novice (and the more experienced) it’s easy to get caught up in the general carnival atmosphere of an estate auction. Here are a few practical tips to survive your first few auctions and come home with some money in your pocket and new-found treasures in your vehicle.

1. If there is a preview available, GO. It will give you a chance to look over items without the pressure of worrying about what else might be selling for pennies twelve yards from you.
2. Pay careful attention to anything you are interested in. Check it over carefully for loose areas, damage, chips, nicks, holes, signs of repair, etc. Bid or don’t bid accordingly.
3. Have a budget. Decide what you can afford to spend (or lose) before you get to the auction. Stick to it. There will be more auctions!
4. Take a list if you are shopping for larger items for your home. On the list needs to be what you are looking for and the measurement of the space it will fit in. If you need a particular color, take along paint chips and fabric samples taped to a small paper. You would be surprised how much smaller furniture and other items look when sitting in an open yard, and how different colors can appear in direct sunlight.
5. Take your tape measure. Measure anything you are interested in against your list. If it doesn’t fit, don’t bid on it!
6. Listen to the auctioneer sell a few items before you jump in bidding. Many of them have very distinct chanting styles and some of them can take a little bit of acclimating before you are totally sure what they are saying.
7. When the bidding starts on something you want, wait. And wait some more. Auctioneers start out high looking for bids and usually drop the bids by five or ten dollars a round. Let it get down to a dollar or two before you start bidding. Many times you will win items for much less than you originally thought you would get them for.
8. Write down everything you win. Keep a list on the back of your bidding card of everything you buy and how much you have paid for it and keep a running total. Nothing like finding out your forgot about that $300 item you won when it’s time to pay up.
9. If you can load your winning bids immediately, it’s a good idea to do so. Once you buy it, it’s yours. People can sometimes walk off with something that isn’t theirs. If you can’t load it up, stick a sign on it with your number on it (I keep small hang tags with me for this very purpose).
10. By the end of most estate auctions, box lots can be FUN! Smaller items tend to get thrown into boxes in general disarray and auctioned off after everything else of value. Look through the box lots carefully, you never know what treasures you might find in there!