Champagne Auctions On A Beer Pocketbook...Part II

Hey there!

It's a wet, windy and cold day here in the Buckeye state, seems as if Mother Nature is trying to hurry out Fall and bring in Winter early for those of us who dread it! Now don't get me wrong, Winter can be beautiful at times, especially with the brilliant white of freshly falling snow and during the Christmas Holiday Season. But for people like me who have Raynauds, the long cold winter months are miserable. When it hurts to even visit the frozen food section at the local grocery store, you can just imagine how winter affects us. The only times I get out during this time is for doctor appointments and occasional visits to our son's home, most of the time they come here.

So being a lover of auctions, this is Not good! Imagine my surprise and delight at discovering on line auctions last winter! Woo hoo! I can sit here with my lap top all cozy and comfy and bid on items for inventory or gifts or hey, just for me! I Love it!  Not sure if my helper loves it or not though, more work for them to help list it and then put it away. With my disabilities, my hands go numb and I tire very easily, about 2 hours at a time is all I'm good for and that's on a good day, I do have days that I'm pretty much bed or couch bound, weak as a newborn kitten and as dizzy as can be.

Onward we go....

In part I, we talked about finding the bargains for resell. I received two of 6 boxes yesterday of items bought at on line auctions since July, 2010. I spent a total 272.63 over the course of 3 months. All monies spent were from profits made on eBay. I estimated on the low side for a return of about $2-3000.00, could be more or less, prices these days are all over the place. The following item was part of a set that upon arrival, one of the ewers was broken, fortunately they were insured and ended up costing me nothing, not even shipping as it was all covered. I had bid and won the set for 30.00 which was a great price for resell. This item sold this morning for 60.00, it's still a great rate of return after fees are deducted and there is still one more item in the set to be sold.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=350390302832

I'll post pictures of the items I just got soon.

The Auction Junkie

Never Been To An Auction........?

OMG! You don't know what you're missing! I would love to get a bunch of sellers together and go to one. There are just specialty type auctions that only have antique furniture, paintings or glass and porcelain, the ones I like are general merchandise and collectibles auctions.

First and foremost...there are things you need to know Before you can bid. When going to a local auction, you will need to register for a "Bidder Paddle or Number", this is how they keep up with who bought what and how much the item went for. You will need to have a drivers license to register, current address and phone number where you can be reached. You of course will need to bring cash, your checkbook or credit card. I like to go at least one hour before the auction starting time so that I can register and look at the items that I'm interested in. Take a small note pad and pencil and jot down those items you'd like to bid on and....Keep track of your spending once the auction begins, it's very easy to get caught up in the excitement of bidding and you can lose track very quickly! Set an amount to spend and stick to it, just like gambling, know your limits. Take boxes and newspapers to pack your items in to avoid damage until you get them home.

On line internet auctions work a little differently. Always read the auctioneers requirements and all costs associated with that particular auction. No matter how much I may want an item, I always take into consideration what the total cost will be, the lowest expected return when reselling and base my bidding on those numbers. On line auctions charge a buyer's premium ranging from about 10-20% of the selling price, some have a per item or per box handling fee, plus all shipping and insurance costs. All of these add up and can price some items out of reach for resell....Be careful, when you register to bid and do win, you're obligated to honor that invoice when it comes, your bid is a Contract.

The Auction Junkie