Auctions are great fun and provide an opportunity to get a real bargain. Online Auctions provide an opportunity for the bargain hunter to enhance collections and bid on pieces and merchandise that are not available locally. However, as reported by The Seattle Times, you can fall prey to fraud. In an upcoming article MDM will go into online auctions in greater detail. Live, local auctions provide a lot of fun, camaraderie, and the tactile hands-on inspection of the merchandise to be bidded on, but there are pitfalls in this area, too. Here are some helpful hints when attending a local auction:

Bring Identification. In order to get a paddle which will contain your number as a bidder, you will need to show identification, usually a driver’s license. You will sign in giving your name and address and they will write the number of your paddle beside your name and record successful bids. Of course, this is if you are going to a local auction house or regular auction site. An auction to liguidate an estate, an auction held at a fair, or at a going-out-of business auction held at a particular site may only have bidders standing around a table or merchandise grouped into various lots, where a nod or gesture will signify a bid. Be careful at these auctions because any unnecessary movement or speech may be taken by the auctioneer as a bid.

Establish Payment and Pick-up. Do they take local checks, charge cards or only cash. Do you have to haul away the merchandise that night or can you pick it up the next day (particularly important with larger pieces).

Know the auctioneer. This is especially important if you have merchandise to be auctioned. Some auctioneers will try very hard to get a good price for each item–others will give it a cursory once over and lump items together. I have had personal experience with one auctioneer who had a private deal with a local pawnshop owner to take any items that did not sell for resale in his shop rather than return the items to the original owners. Remember if a pawnshop owner is willing to take it to his shop, although it did not sell at the auction, it has value nonetheless and you can give it as a donation to a charity for a tax deduction. And sometimes an item doesn’t sell because it may get lost competing with the big ticket items–which are usually advertise to draw the largest crowd–or may have little interest that night, e.g. you are auctioning off porcelain when most attending the auction are interested in furniture.

Control Getting Caught Up In the Bidding Frenzy. The first auction I ever attended was a sweltering August day at a fairground. There I met an interior designer I knew who gave me my first lesson on bidding. She taught me how to control my emotions. This is important because auctioneers like to rev up the crowd in order to create a bidding war. One way to slow down the bid is to take time to counter until the auctioneer brings down the bidding increments. Auctioneers will start out with a high opening bid and drop it to a lower bid if he/she does not get any takers. Thus, if the auctioneer bids it up say by $5 each time, if he/she does not get that bid, they will drop it to $1 increments, and so on.

Be Sure to Inspect the Merchandise Thoroughly. Usually merchandise can be previewed before the auction. If you find something you like, be sure to pick it up, inspect it with all your senses in operation. If it is pottery or china run your fingers along the edge to see if it has any chips or knicks, tap it to see if it sounds right, put it under a black light to check for repairs. With furniture look underneath at its’ construction, check out its condition.

Be knowledgeable. The more information you have, the better bidder you will become. Do Your Homework. Read as much as possible, watch tv shows on antiques and restoration, visit your local library, go to estate sales, and shop antique stores. Attend auctions in your area just for fun, to gain experience on local prices, players, merchandise, and the general flavor of the event.

Set a Budget, Set a Limit Before You Bid. What is an item worth to you? What is your top bid? Set it and then be willing to let it go if it goes higher. In many ways bidding is like gambling and can become very addicting. By setting limits you can be sure to keep your wits about you and rein in your emotions. A bargain is only a bargain if you don’t regret it the next day.

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