No-reserve auction disaster

[GarageWarrior]

Last weekend was helping out a family member liquidate his construction business and household inventory at a multi-consignor no-reserve auction. Brought in a 40' enclosed trailer, laid things out, good day, good weather, a little on the cool side, saw a lot of people browsing through stuff. Pricing was all over the place - some went for crazy money, most went dirt-cheap, much stuff was just given away

Examples of stuff that did well - had a big roll of 3/4" pex tubing, about half-used - went for more than retail, boxes with sandpaper and Lenox blades did well, construction jackets and tool bags did well, plumbing valves went for good money.

Many other stuff did not fare well - 5 big boxes filled with electrical hardware went for $5 for all. A whole bunch of fans and electric space-heaters did not get a bid - auctioneer ended-up buying one heater for his trailer for $5, and the rest was combined with a $150 dehumidifier and went for $5 for all. Floor-standing band saw did not get a bid, got bundled with a new $400 dishwasher and also went for $5. $500 treadmill went for $15. Large Dewalt toolboxes went for $5 each at that auction. For comparison - I was selling much smaller Stanley toolboxes earlier at a weekly/reserve-price auction for $10 each.

I sold a few guitars - went for 30-90% retail (cheap guitars did better than more expensive guitars), sold a whole bunch of picture frames - went for about %15 retail.

Bought some stuff - a nice men's 26' bike for about %10 retail, also got a good deal on Schwinn electric scooter (but now it needs new batteries, so wasn't that good of a deal after all). My sister scored a huge set of fine-china for $5 (checked - about $300 retail), she was the only bidder. Also got a $1100 painting for $10. On the high side - saw a metal gazebo go for %200 retail, a small end-table went for $350 - was a little dinged up, must be really good wood.

All in all - some categories do well, but hard to find out what goes well where. One way is to attend a bunch of regional auctions and track closing prices and average-out seasonal variations, but who's got time for that . Auctioneers are of little help due to obvious conflict of interest. Somebody should come up with a consulting service to help sellers (do they exist?).

 

[excavator]

at least you did not take stuff back with you

 

[Strouty]

In our neck of the woods, fall auctions do not usually do well at all. Everyone is thinking about winter. Spring auctions do much better, summer is hit or miss.

 

[Jay Sco]

Pretty soon we will have somebody start a thread about their band saw and dishwasher score for $5!

 

[A_Pmech]

You auctioned a bunch of miscellaneous junk. Expecting more than 10% of retail from such an auction is excessive. I consider a misc. junk auction as a way to avoid paying for a dumpster and not much more.

You talk about what your time is worth. It's not worth most people's time to attend auctions like this. Thus, the only people who do attend are those with low incomes and those who won't bid unless the item is available at an extremely steep discount.

 

[GarageWarrior]

In our neck of the woods, fall auctions do not usually do well at all. Everyone is thinking about winter. Spring auctions do much better, summer is hit or miss.

That's good to know! I might hold-off on selling remaining inventory till next spring. Most of the stuff that was in the way is gone, only have a couple rooms left to go through. Saw you making some good headway too in the other thread

 

[Strouty]

You auctioned a bunch of miscellaneous junk. Expecting more than 10% of retail from such an auction is excessive. I consider a misc. junk auction as a way to avoid paying for a dumpster and not much more.

You talk about what your time is worth. It's not worth most people's time to attend auctions like this. Thus, the only people who do attend are those with low incomes and those who won't bid unless the item is available at an extremely steep discount.

I prefer low rent or maybe even thrifty.

 

[Davefr]

I wouldn't call it a disaster. That stuff sounds like it went for what it was worth which in the case of surplus construction materials/supplies isn't much.

If you had known what the value was before hand what would you have done differently?

As long as it's all gone and you have some "dead presidents" vs. "stuff" then you did good IMHO.

 

[GarageWarrior]

You auctioned a bunch of miscellaneous junk. Expecting more than 10% of retail from such an auction is excessive. I consider a misc. junk auction as a way to avoid paying for a dumpster and not much more.

You talk about what your time is worth. It's not worth most people's time to attend auctions like this. Thus, the only people who do attend are those with low incomes and those who won't bid unless the item is available at an extremely steep discount.

10% is horrible. You can call goodwill to haul stuff away and get more in tax-deduction. Even pawn shop will pay-out better than that on the spot. My local pawn guy will give a third of what he sells for, and he's close to retail.

When selling-off my shop I was getting about %40-%80 retail between ebay, local sales, craigslist, auctions - that's on current merchandise in good condition. It's mostly about timing and finding appropriate distribution channels.

There is another weekly auction that I was selling at, and getting close to retail on inexpensive stuff that people need. The problem was that my buddy is 4 hours away, so wouldn't be worth his time and gas to keep coming for weeklies. He made a few K, so wasn't too bad, but if it was my stuff I'd be upset. If I knew treadmill would go for $15, I would have told him to put it on craiglist or ebay - they do sell. My coworker made $300 on his through ebay not long ago.

 

[CT2012]

Check with your accountant first to see if that will apply for you.

I generally stopped selling stuff for what would inevitably be dirt cheap prices.

Instead, Goodwill gets the items, they do good things with them, and I get a tax deduction (which is ironically paid for pro rata by 350-400million other taxpaying citizens...).



Today I put up a really nice soil sifter (mechanized) on craiglist for $50, and it sold in 30 minutes,, so that was an exception. The exception being I had no desire to hoist it in my truck and haul it to Goodwill, who might not even take it.

10% is horrible. You can call goodwill to haul stuff away and get more in tax-deduction.

 

[chops101]

I clicked on this thread thinking maybe a bunch of 1963-67 Vettes sold for 10k each or something

 

[Davefr]

10% is horrible. You can call goodwill to haul stuff away and get more in tax-deduction.

You can't legally deduct more then an item's fair market value and there's no better method of accurate values then what a willing buyer pays and willing seller. (ie an auction).

Even pawn shop will pay-out better than that on the spot. My local pawn guy will give a third of what he sells for, and he's close to retail.

Do you really think a pawn shop will pay you 1/3 MSRP for those buckets of paint, scrap plastic plumbing parts, bathroom sink unit and misc. electric parts?? Unless I'm missing something, I'm not seeing anything of value in those images.

If I knew treadmill would go for $15, I would have told him to put it on craiglist or ebay - they do sell. My coworker made $300 on his through ebay not long ago.

Maybe it's regional, but exercise equiptment does not sell well here. It's often set in the free pile for anyone to haul away.

 

[GarageWarrior]

Do you really think a pawn shop will pay you 1/3 MSRP for those buckets of paint, scrap plastic plumbing parts, bathroom sink unit and misc. electric parts?? Unless I'm missing something, I'm not seeing anything of value in those images.

I'll give some specific examples - my sister bought a set of fine china/ former dinnerware at that auction for $5 (think it was 6 piece settings for 12 people , current pattern) all for $5. I just sold a set HALF that size (5 piece settings for 6 people, similar pattern) for $80 through local consignment store last month (retail was over $100). Consignment store charges %50 commission, so I got $40 cash. Person that had the 12-person set sold at the auction got $3 after aucioneer's fees. That's just not right.

Scrap plumbing we were selling went for good money. There were plumbers getting in to bidding wars on every item. Tile also went for good money. Apparently there were not enough electricians at that auction, as electric went cheap.

So some stuff goes for big bucks and some for nothing with little rhyme or reason. It's a gamble, and not very good gamble for sellers. If anybody is looking to liquidate - I'd suggest a no-reserve auction like that only as a last resort.

 

[Davefr]

So some stuff goes for big bucks and some for nothing with little rhyme or reason. It's a gamble, and not very good gamble for sellers. If anybody is looking to liquidate - I'd suggest a no-reserve auction like that only as a last resort.

That's exactly what it is. In a few hours you sell it all and collect a net check from the auctioneer.

You can chose to piece meal it out in consignment shops, CL, Ebay, etc but it can be a slow process and a huge amount of incremental work/hassle for the seller.

Take your pick. Do you want easy at the expense of $'s or $'s at the expense of time and effort. It's all a trade off. The price you get is a function of the sales channel you choose to use.

 

[Playwme]

- I'd suggest a no-reserve auction like that only as a last resort.

That's generally what they are, last resort to get rid of stuff. The only people MAKING money are the auctioneers.

 

[justin1795]

ive been to a few farm auctions this year. most the stuff I bid on I don't win. had a 10 foot ladder and they bid it all the way to 190.00 on my phone home depot had the same one for 200.00 thinking of taking some stuff next year.

 

[zkling]

Between this thread and the other garage sale thread, I'm seeing a trend with the OP. I think the question basically boils down to. "Why don't people want to pay for my (mostly) low value new and used items?" OP think of the flip side, if you were to be a buyer of your previously owned stuff, what would you be willing to pay? Yes you had a few nice, high value items, unfortunatly you did not have the audience to support those items.

You auctioned a bunch of miscellaneous junk. Expecting more than 10% of retail from such an auction is excessive. I consider a misc. junk auction as a way to avoid paying for a dumpster and not much more.

You talk about what your time is worth. It's not worth most people's time to attend auctions like this. Thus, the only people who do attend are those with low incomes and those who won't bid unless the item is available at an extremely steep discount.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

!st thing a seller can do is to have everything clean and in good condition. The auctioneer should take care of advertising. Good pictures and descriptions of "featured items". Tools do better at auctions with lots of tools, artwork does better at auctions with artwork......
I'll drive 100 miles to an auction where several items catch my interest. I won't go across the street for doilies and broken toys. I also won't hang around all day as they sell jewelry and glassware one piece at a time.
Also best to schedule a day when their are few other sales with similar items (or items that attach similar buyers) in the area. That one is tough.

 

[GarageWarrior]

Between this thread and the other garage sale thread, I'm seeing a trend with the OP. I think the question basically boils down to. "Why don't people want to pay for my (mostly) low value new and used items?" OP think of the flip side, if you were to be a buyer of your previously owned stuff, what would you be willing to pay? Yes you had a few nice, high value items, unfortunatly you did not have the audience to support those items.

So what are you selling for 95% off? Your time will come. How about actually putting some work and thought in to assets liquidation. I understand that thinking about selling makes people uncomfortable, very little info is out. It's like walking through a mine-field - good and bad ways to go about it. Hopefully others can benefit from the experience.

At the last auction where I was helping a family member - he was getting ripped-off big time IMHO.

!st thing a seller can do is to have everything clean and in good condition. The auctioneer should take care of advertising. Good pictures and descriptions of "featured items". Tools do better at auctions with lots of tools, artwork does better at auctions with artwork......
I'll drive 100 miles to an auction where several items catch my interest. I won't go across the street for doilies and broken toys. I also won't hang around all day as they sell jewelry and glassware one piece at a time.
Also best to schedule a day when their are few other sales with similar items (or items that attach similar buyers) in the area. That one is tough.

Thanks. I think prep is a big thing, and finding the right channels, knowing they selling format, and how to best utilize it, and having enough stuff for whatever category they selling to actually make it worth the trip. I'll drive for a $100 bill.

There is a place near me that will take and sell a half-used box of nails for %25 retail. On anything big they stop bidding at $25, no matter what it is, so it's not good to bring big stuff there. There is another place that will choke on smaller stuff, but sell big stuff for good price - that's for tools.

Right now I have some marine equipment, electronics and household items left to go through. I think anything over $100/pc has ebay written over it. Not sure about the cheap items yet.

 

[Strouty]

It is really hard for anyone to pay good money for misc lots. If they are organized by type and have lots of decent resale items, you may get a few decent bids, other than that it is ALWAYS hit or miss, usually miss. The only time I have ever paid good money for a pallet of misc stuff was either it was all something I use and can resell or the container is a nice reusable palletized box.

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

I think people are overlooking the purpose of an auction or any sale, and that is to sell the item and make it go away. If you're doing it to earn money, well, good luck. How much is the empty space that object was taking up worth? That has to be considered in any sale.

You *could* hold on to those old vinyl LP's if you really want to or want to wait for the price to go back up. Hey, who knows? Disco might make a comeback and you'll be sitting pretty!

 

[lynnbilodeau]

When I am getting rid of "stuff" I normally will list things worth about $100 or more on Craigslist AND on ebay. On my ebay ads, I make it clear that it is listed for sale locally, and that I may end the auction early if there are no bids. I never end the auction if I have bids.
On stuff worth less than that, I just don't want to mess with it. If it is car stuff that someone else can use, I list if as a freebie. Come pick it up. We sold a treadmill on craigslist a few years ago because we wanted the floor space. Worked perfectly. Got no takers at $300. Wait one week and reduce to $200. One more week, reduce to $100. Finally got a buyer. At a no reserve auction, $15 is about right.

 

[zkling]

So what are you selling for 95% off? Your time will come. How about actually putting some work and thought in to assets liquidation. I understand that thinking about selling makes people uncomfortable, very little info is out. It's like walking through a mine-field - good and bad ways to go about it. Hopefully others can benefit from the experience.

At the last auction where I was helping a family member - he was getting ripped-off big time IMHO.

.

Look genius, you need to know the maket and the value of your items. A no reserve auction is a gamble, so you need to stack the deck in your favor. My time will come? WTF is that supposed to mean? I'm not delusional to the market for stuff that just doesn't hold value. You've heard the saying "something is only worth what someone is willing to pay?" Again back to my comment about stacking the deck, especially the target audience as AP brought up above.

 

[jd_1138]

Sounds like a combination of low turnout combined with people being cheapskates. We had a garage sale to clear out my mom's garage. A brand new gun cleaning kit that had a $49 Gander Mountain price tag on it wouldn't even fetch $5. A brand new in the box bread machine was a no sale at $5. I was amazed. I thought people liked bargains? I ended up giving most of it to Salvation Army and handing the donation receipts to my mom for her taxes. It was a waste of 2 consecutive weekends.

Heck, I even had a Stihl gas chainsaw in mint shape with a case of Stihl 2 stroke motor. Was a no sale at $75. Finally just gave it to my cousin a few weeks later when he helped me on a project at my mom's house. I had some USA made frame stands for $10 for the pair. No takers. A guy offered me $2 for them. lol. Um, no. Still got those. I kept all the USA made tools and equipment.

 

[justme-]

Sounds like a combination of a lot of factors - biggest is overexpectation of the auction. Personally if I see any estate or business liquidations sales from companies I pass. Never found a deal at the ones I went to. An auction in a field, unless very well advertised and done just right will look like a yard sale and attract that mentality. What you sell an item for in consignment is apples and oranges - consignment stores attract a specific customer in most cases, and it could take weeks or months to make that sale. The item is out of your possession and thus not your concern until it sells where as at an auction it's now or never.
If you sell things on CL you're in control of how much you ask for it - if you were concerned about prices it shouldn't have been no reserve.
Have to remember too that retail prices are meaningless at yard/garage/park sales and brand new is meaningless in most cases besides the fact that many items someone purchases new intitially either everyone else has one (bread maker), very few people have use for (gun cleaning kit - especially in certain states over others), and in many cases every yard/garage sale and salvation army store has one or more (bread maker, dishes, paintings, bicycles, misc home repair supplies..)
I would either sell it out yourself or bring it to a real auction house next time if you want to get real money for any of it.

 

[purplezr2]

Seems like a pattern with your posts. Maybe you need to reevaluate how you sell stuff.

 

[finn]

The purpose of a yard sale or auction is to clear clutter from your life, at least in my opinion..

Any money made is coincidental, and hence, a bonus.

What an auction item sells for is what it is worth to that particular group of people on that particular day.

 

[Lbcwanabe]

Lmao

 

[Ign]

I think people are overlooking the purpose of an auction or any sale, and that is to sell the item and make it go away. If you're doing it to earn money, well, good luck. How much is the empty space that object was taking up worth? That has to be considered in any sale.

You *could* hold on to those old vinyl LP's if you really want to or want to wait for the price to go back up. Hey, who knows? Disco might make a comeback and you'll be sitting pretty!

This. When I sell things it's to make them go away and maybe get enough to buy me lunch or perhaps a nice dinner depending upon the item. Only if I have a true jewel do I set it aside and ask top dollar; this would have to be an item that's in excellent condition with low use, generally still with the case, manuals etc, or something sort of rare and very clean, etc.

Boxes of misc electrical, etc are always gonna be cheap at most auctions. And around here everyone is a "contractor" and general construction tools are commonly for sale everywhere. Only if you get into specialized metalworking tools do prices go up, but likewise the market shrinks dramatically so you have to find the right buyer who can appreciate a lathe or an ironworker or a nice welder, etc.

 

[GarageWarrior]

Look genius, you need to know the maket and the value of your items. A no reserve auction is a gamble, so you need to stack the deck in your favor. My time will come? WTF is that supposed to mean? I'm not delusional to the market for stuff that just doesn't hold value. You've heard the saying "something is only worth what someone is willing to pay?" Again back to my comment about stacking the deck, especially the target audience as AP brought up above.

Don't take it in the wrong way - chances are that you'll have to sell at some point. A move, an inheritance, downsizing, change of jobs, life circumstance, it's not all bad. Or may be somebody else can use the first person feedback.

I cleared about $60K in shop and household inventory in the last 6 months. Wrong place, wrong time, no prep - could have been 10K, or $5K. It's not like it's a trivial amount. I'd say my buddy lost at least $1K on the last auction. The auction itself is not bad, just some stuff does not do well.

 

[454cid]

I disagree on the purpose of an auction is to simply make things go away. If that were the case, a dumpster or Habitat for Humanity would be a lot quicker. Sure some things maybe are not cared about as much, but the idea of an auction is to bring as much money as someone is willing to pay. You've got to have good advertising and the right people in attendance.

I could see a yard sale being more about making things leave the property, but there's still money involved even you're selling stuff for a quarter.