Auctioning Tips and Hints for  Country, Outdoor Auctions & Sales

This guide is for those starting out and some hints for those that are pros about going to auction sales from estate and household auction sales.

• First and foremost have a plan - go thru your newspaper, get to know when the local auctions are going to be and mark them on your calander or pda. If you have timedays before, go by the auction site and look at the parking situation and the home or place it will be located at. This will let you know if you need to leave early to get a good parking spot and will give some insight into the items that may be offered.
• Get to be familier with the auctioneer and workers - the more you go to the same auctioneer auctions, the more they will get to know your face and what items you frequently buy. This can be a good thing, as if you are friendly with the auctioneer they will be more likey to "hand over" a bid to you and give you tips on a certain item that they know may interest you or better yet , let you know what items will be auctioned at what time
• Get an Auction Number - even if you do not plan on bidding, get a number anyway, you never know. Do this first thing, you may loose track of time looking and will not want to stand in line to get a number while the autioneer is auctioning off your item in the begining.
  
• Wear Comfortable Clothing and shoes- if you have a purse, wear perhaps a travel pack or small sling purse that will leave your hands free to touch. Be advised your clothing may get dusty and dirty as the things you handle may have been in storage or just not cleaned in awhile. Also always have an umbrella on hand.
  
• Bring a 2 wheel cart - even if you do not plan on purchasing large furniture items, a 2 wheel cart will be handy when you buy the box lots. Just stack the boxes on top and wheel them out to your car
• Bring Packing and Bins- bring along bins, boxes, sheets, wrapping, newpapers etc for those breakable items that need to be packed up. If you forget, you can always bid on linen lots or pillows as these sometimes go for a low price (if they are not vintage linen) and will be great to use as packing.
• Get to the auction early - if you are able , go early, this will be the time when you can study each item up close and decide on how high you will go.
  
• Small Lot and Your Choice Auction - If it is small lots of say jewelry(which is usually numbered or lettered), write down the number/letter of the  lot and a price that you  have decided on. When the bidding starts ,  you will then be prepared with what item and what price you want. Alot of these small lots may go as a "your chioce" auction, so when you win a bid, you will then choose the particular lot/s you want
  
• Bidding - you don't have to jump in right away on an item, see how low it will go before someone bids. You may not have to bid on it at all, as the item may go well beyond your bid price. Or you can always jump in on a low price. Keep your number up front and hold it up when you bid, you may have to say "yup" or something for the auctioneer to see that you are bidding.
  
• Do not get into a Bidding War - always avoid this, as it can be hard. Always have a price in your mind that you will pay and let it go if the bid goes higher. Bidding wars are easy to get into, but will leave you with a "I paid too much for this" feeling.
• Focus on the Bid - listen very close to the auctioneer and pay attention to how he ups the bids. It may be at 10.00 then he will up it to say 15.00 and bypass the 11, 12 13 14. You do not have to bid at that high price if you only wanted to pay 12.00 tops, so raise your hand and say 12.00 loud even thou he is saying 15.00 (although make sure another bidder is not raising his had at the 15.00 bid)
• Winning a Bid - when you win an item or lot, go and get the item or lot right away if possible, as the worker will want to clear the trailer or space that they are working at. Find a good place to keep your items that you can also keep your eyes on, until a break when you can them put them in you car. (You will not want to leave the area while the bidding is going on as you may miss an item - but be aware that someone could go thru your bevy of items bought and take something - although this is rare)
• Be Aware of any Addtional Expense - some auctions have a buyers premium which can be a percentage of your bid price (anywhere from 10%-15% - I have personally have never gone to an auction with this, but ebayer, Onebighoax , has informed me of this information). Be aware before you bid and include it in your bid price. Also if you have a tax I.D. number and are using the items for resale, be sure to bring this with you , so you will not have to pay additonal tax.
  

• End of an Auction  - When you are finished, put your items in your car and then go to the auctioneer secretary to add up the winnings. Quickly scan your ticket and make sure it is close to what you have and make your payment.

 Hope this will help for those just starting out at going to auctions. They can be fun but also work, but in the end you will be hooked!