05-10-2012, 12:22 PM
I must wholeheartedly concur with Ed. Using "snipe" programmes to me is quite a "questionable" if not even somewhat immoral act in my mind. I certainly have never used one nor ever intend to - it's just not cricket!
There is nothing like a real auction. There is a real buzz in the room and the experience is quite indescribable when you go head to head with another bidder and using your highly tuned and personalised system of nods, winks and shrugs you get just what you came out for. Of course the best deals are when the auctioneer says "10, 5, couple of pounds" and you reply with "a pound" and the hammer drops. This experience is only comparable to online auctions in the way that you can purchase items (or not) and could be the same as the difference in drinking swamp water and drinking ambrosia - both wet the whistle but in very different ways.
I have personally been attending real auctions for as long as I can remember and even before that too. I started bidding (and purchasing) whilst attending auctions alone at the age of 7 or 8 and after the rather old dealers once got used to the fact that I wasn't just a "cute kid spending pocket money" I had some very fun rivalry. As you all know how "organised" I like to be I also have every since hand written invoice from every auction I've ever purchased from filed away - some of the prices are truly mind blowing. I have created and obtained a certain presence at the local auctions, many folks know if I am bidding on furniture not to bother. I have frequently put an axe to a piece right where it stands and thrown it into the wagon to be used as firewood. This of course is a good distraction from a really fine piece of furniture when I start bidding on it as the locals instantly think it is only good for firewood and leave it alone. I may say I'm taking it home to burn it but I'm not a heathen! I've even bought a chair to sit down during bidding at the start of an auction (for $1 or £1) only to take it home to burn after it has served its purpose.
It is due to the rush and feel of the real auction that I have a farm absolutely stuffed with all sorts of everything and very frequently get lumbered with far more than I can travel with when touring. Then again like with anything else don't buy what you can't afford. Television programmes like bargain hunt and other space filling television programmes gave people auction fever some years ago and people just wanted to buy at auction, leading to some ultra inflated prices. Fortunately that fad has passed and the very best thing about auctions is you never know what you will find or how far your money will stretch.
If you've never been to a real auction - give it a try! If you see someone chopping up furniture for firewood wait until I put the axe down to talk to me.
There is nothing like a real auction. There is a real buzz in the room and the experience is quite indescribable when you go head to head with another bidder and using your highly tuned and personalised system of nods, winks and shrugs you get just what you came out for. Of course the best deals are when the auctioneer says "10, 5, couple of pounds" and you reply with "a pound" and the hammer drops. This experience is only comparable to online auctions in the way that you can purchase items (or not) and could be the same as the difference in drinking swamp water and drinking ambrosia - both wet the whistle but in very different ways.
I have personally been attending real auctions for as long as I can remember and even before that too. I started bidding (and purchasing) whilst attending auctions alone at the age of 7 or 8 and after the rather old dealers once got used to the fact that I wasn't just a "cute kid spending pocket money" I had some very fun rivalry. As you all know how "organised" I like to be I also have every since hand written invoice from every auction I've ever purchased from filed away - some of the prices are truly mind blowing. I have created and obtained a certain presence at the local auctions, many folks know if I am bidding on furniture not to bother. I have frequently put an axe to a piece right where it stands and thrown it into the wagon to be used as firewood. This of course is a good distraction from a really fine piece of furniture when I start bidding on it as the locals instantly think it is only good for firewood and leave it alone. I may say I'm taking it home to burn it but I'm not a heathen! I've even bought a chair to sit down during bidding at the start of an auction (for $1 or £1) only to take it home to burn after it has served its purpose.
It is due to the rush and feel of the real auction that I have a farm absolutely stuffed with all sorts of everything and very frequently get lumbered with far more than I can travel with when touring. Then again like with anything else don't buy what you can't afford. Television programmes like bargain hunt and other space filling television programmes gave people auction fever some years ago and people just wanted to buy at auction, leading to some ultra inflated prices. Fortunately that fad has passed and the very best thing about auctions is you never know what you will find or how far your money will stretch.
If you've never been to a real auction - give it a try! If you see someone chopping up furniture for firewood wait until I put the axe down to talk to me.
"Signed with his own rubber stamp"
