Been to any good auctions lately?

[Too_Many_Tools]

Let's hear about them..the good, the bad and the ugly.

TMT

[keelan]

*crickets*

[Jack F]

There is one coming up this Sat. in Kent Wa. It will be auctioning off the home shop of the late Robert Washburn of Strictly IC Magazine. For more info call George Christensen at 425-442-3002 or go to "christensen [email protected]".

Jack.

[madman]

Auctions

Sadly yes.

[john hobdeclipe]

Yes, actually I've been to some good ones...at least good for me.

I recently bought a dusty shelf full of leftover hardware and junk from a cabinet shop auction for 50 bucks. Apparently I was the only one who knew that behind the 5 gallon buckets of scrap hinges there were three nice Columbian woodworking vises. I'll keep the two that are identical, and sell the third, probably for more than $50.00.

At another recent auction I bought a pile of stuff that included a catalog rack and some poly containers I wanted for storing abrasives. I got the pile for $30.00, brought it all home, and started selling what I didn't want. Sold the catalog rack for $75.00, sold a piece of a Segway for $100.00, and I just now posted a C'list ad for the Sony PS3 console that was hidden on the top shelf. I'll probably get close to $200.00 for it.

And at a factory liquidation sale last month I bought a bunch of abrasives and a 6" chuck and a sine vise and an angle block, all for $125.00. The 6 inch chuck was a never-used Bison 4 jaw independent. Sold it for $200.00.

I love it when the world pays me to equip my shop!!!

[Randolph]

I have been to some auctions and bought some stuff that I hope nobody ever hears about but I did buy a Diacro 24" finger brake and a matching 24" Diacro manual shear for $150.00 apiece a couple of weeks ago. Sad auction. A nice guy was selling out his business of 35 years because his work was primarily for the textile industry and the textiles went away.

[The Artful Bodger]

I went to an auction at the closing down of a footware factory, in the sewing machine repair shop people were bidding insane prices for wooden typeseter's trays that had been used to store parts. I waited and bought a cabinet that included 24 trays for less than they were payin for one.

[gellfex]

Where are you guys finding the auctions? I used to see many more in the NY Times than are now listed, are they online somewhere? I once gave it shot looking, but didn't find "auctionnotice.com" or something.

I used to do quite well, but haven't gone to one in a long while. My last great buy was a 12x18 vacuformer for $60.

[Too_Many_Tools]

Thanks for the few responses so far.

Anyone else?

Or are people just not going to auctions?

Or are there just not a lot of auctions to go to?

TMT

[Jim Shaper]

The local online auctions here still seem to be commanding top dollar on anything with any commercial value. You could do well to buy a horizontal mill for under 300, but anything small enough to move without a forklift is going to cost you market value and 10%+tax.

CL is where the bargains are, at least around here. Machinery and tooling has been pretty slim. Lots of automotive tools though.

[SVS]

Farm/industrial consignment auction last week in central Nebraska-A bare step pulley B-port brought $2700. Older 20x60 manual Okuma lathe brought $2800.

Both appeared decent excepting the lime green "house" paint.

[john hobdeclipe]

Where are you guys finding the auctions? I used to see many more in the NY Times than are now listed, are they online somewhere? I once gave it shot looking, but didn't find "auctionnotice.com" or something.

I used to do quite well, but haven't gone to one in a long while. My last great buy was a 12x18 vacuformer for $60.

I watch the local ads, Dallas Morning News Classifieds, local craigslist, etc. I bookmark the websites of area auctioneers, and check them every day or two. The list keeps growing. As I realize that some auctioneers rarely work in this area, they move further down the list. The ones who do a lot of auctions close by are at the top of the list.

Auctionzip is a good source, but not all auctioneers are a part of their system. There may also be other similar networks, but I'm not familiar with them.

A local fellow had a website for a while that listed nearly all the area auctioneers and their schedules, but the auctioneers weren't good about keeping him updated, and the project was shelved...a loss to both the customers and to the auction houses that wouldn't work with him.