Okay, so you love ebay...and what's not to love?  Auctions are thrilling.  So, have you been to a local live auction? What's stopping you?  Here, I will give you some guidelines for attending local auctions. 

FIRST, find a reputable auctioneer.  This can be one of the hardest tasks involved.  It will require you to go to many auctions and talk to the people that are there.  Get to know the people that are regular auction-goers (they are just like you...out to make a living).  Watch the bidders.

Here are some things to watch for:

• I have found many local auctioneers have shill bidders (their buddies) that run bids up.  If they accidentally win the bid, they just put the merchandise back at the next auction. 
• Some auctioneers pull bids from nowhere.  There are a few people bidding and if you pay very close attention, you'll notice the auctioneer "finds" a bid where there was not someone bidding (an attempt to increase the bids).
• Some auctioneers pull items. Their staff will bring something to their attention that was not noticed during set-up and they will take it to be put in one of their own auctions (this normally only happens at estate auctions and the items must be small enough to hide in a pocket or jacket).

SECOND, watch the bidders. I only consider 4 types of people that attend auctions.  Dealers, Collectors, Family (at estate auctions, family of the owner of personal property being auctioned), and people that just love the auction.  You will fit in the category of Dealer. You will find most of the "big hitter" dealers always have large sums of money. You will get to know what types of items they bid on and how high they will go (this gives you the knowledge you'll need "to bid" or "not to bid").  Often, when the auctioneer advertises in the local newspaper, they will list items they feel will attract people. You might notice that they over-emphasize "dolls" or "farm equipment".  You can count on doll collectors to show up at an auction that lists dolls as a key item (maybe even said "hundreds of dolls" in the ad).  In that case, you will be looking for something other than dolls to bid on. You don't want to compete with a collector!

THIRD, do your research. This is pretty time-consuming. Each day, choose a category on ebay that you are unfamiliar with and do some random searches from highest to lowest. Check out the listings that have the highest bids. Read the descriptions to know what condition they should be in or characteristics of the items. Some items have been produced multiple times and only the earliest will get the high bids. Make sure you are knowlegable in many areas.  Think about things that people have in their homes...especially what most would consider junk (like in a "catch-all" drawer). Do searches for those items and read, read, read.  There are pieces of paper, toys, game pieces, instruction manuals, greeting cards, and buttons that can fetch large bids...just be familiar with those categories & items.

FOURTH, don't be afraid to bid.  The fear most people have that if they scratch their nose, it will be considered a bid is crazy...but I have seen dealers waving at someone and it was "caught" as a bid.  Just use common sense. Don't wave your hand in the air or make contact with the auctioneer and give a nod.  You'll be fine.  No matter how seasoned you are, bidding will almost always give you an adrenoline rush.

FIFTH, checking out the box lots. Okay, I will admit that this is primarily what I bid on. Before the auction starts, I will stroll among the merchandise and "dig" into the box lots.  You will almost always find hidden treasures in the bottom of boxes (or inside things in the boxes).  People hide things in strange places.  Ebay offers you the ability to target collectors of everything, so don't overlook anything!  Dig in those boxes and KNOW the contents.  WATCH for bidders that are staging boxes. They will find one box that they really like all the contents, but there is a box which has only one "widget" they want. They will remove the widget from one box and place it in the box that they intend to bid on.  Let the auctioneer or call-people know this is taking place (or you can move it back where it belongs).  It's really disappointing to bid on a box because you know there is a widget only to get home & realize someone took it out.

SIXTH, know your auctioneer.Some auctioneers are very clear and easy to understand when calling, some "sing", and some muffle/slur their numbers.  Listen carefully and get to know each auctioneer. Some will "speed" through an estate...and some are so slow that it takes forever to get the job done. You must be ready to bid on items you want...and to do that, you need to know what the bid amount is. Pay attention!

SEVENTH, be kind.  You will find that you can make friends & win more bids if you are kind. If you make enemies or people find you are unfriendly, they will bid against you ...not because they want the item you're bidding on, but "just because" you're not nice and/or they don't like you.  You might find that you make some friends and enjoy seeing them at the next auction.

8th & last, separation phase.  You must allow time at the end of the auction to separate things.  I get home and have four areas set up.

1. Keep: these are items that I can use in my home (or I just like them and want to keep them)
2. Sell on Ebay: these are items that I have to research on ebay or I already know I will be listing
3. Trash: you will always have some of this. Broken things that cannot be used in any way. Be sure you research everything though. Sometimes you will have something you think is trash, only to find out that you can sell "parts" from the item if you take the time to dismantle.
4. Freecycle (give away): these are items that could be useful to someone, but you don't want them. I go to freecycle dot org and list them locally so people can take & use them.

During the week auctions are much better than weekend.  On weekends, there are more people (more bidders).  If you have the luxury of being able to attend weekday auctions, do it.  Attend a couple on weekends just to see for yourself that what I am telling you is true (which is why most auctioneers have them on Saturdays).

Now, some auctioneers sell real estate too. In some cases, they don't really care what they get for the personal property once they have sold the real estate (yes, even on weekends). So, you can sometimes get very very large quantities of things for hardly any investment.  Get to know your auctioneer. Watch the paper for Saturday auctions. If you have time, cruise to several before they start to get an idea of what kinds of items are there and what type of people you think will attend. Choose one to attend.

Have Fun! Plan to spend the entire day at the auction.