Skip to main content

Western Traders Current Auction

More
1 year 8 months ago #237469 by Mrsmackpaul
Shall do, I rarely get up that way much these days

But keep the kettle handy

Paul

Your better to die trying than live on your knees begging
The following user(s) said Thank You: V8Ian

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
1 year 8 months ago #237482 by mammoth
Bit of feedback. Buyers still bid like they are playing an old fashioned board game by putting a bid on at the last second and because WT use an old platform it sometimes works for them. So, as I am looking for a yard crane I was interested in the '85 Volvo F10 with Palfinger crane hanging off the back. Truck was looking a bit tired but had the latest motor spec so not bad there. Rego no not recognised by Qld computer. Crane was fitted way back then so probably tired and at 8/ton/metre barely just did the job. So if I took it home for, say $6k, would be happy. At 9am it was up t0 7. It closed at $16500!!!! (10.00am) This is evidence that there is a shortage of trucks and people (farmers??) are paying over the odds.
The deranged bidding behaviour can be seen on Auctionsplus where after close time every new bid gives another 20 secs or so - have seen them slug it out for another hour.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
1 year 7 months ago #237959 by Steve L
I have had Grays and Pickles slug it out for more than an hour. Recently I bid on some heavy tools and the same guy ran me to just over my $121 max bid at the minimum $5 bid, took forever after the advertised auction end time. I then put a max ( $185 ) bid again so the clock stars again ( I think it’s 8 mins ) every time just before the 8 mins same guy bid $5 again. This peanut kept his $5 going and setting the clock each time. About 1.5 hours later when he reached around $150 I shut my computer annoyed. Next morning I went online and I won the items at $185. His highest bid was 180 and he finished after 10. Besides thinking this guy was being a moron what other reason could this happen . . . . . . . I can think of one.
The following user(s) said Thank You: PaulFH

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
1 year 7 months ago #237969 by hayseed
The Auction Houses are Just doing their Job..! Extracting as much as Possible out of the Buyer... Nothing More nothing less...
It's no different than being there in Person. As long as People Keep Bidding ! they'll keep accepting the Bid....

"Be who you are and say what you feel...
Because those that matter...
don't mind...
And those that mind....
don't matter." -
The following user(s) said Thank You: PaulFH

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
1 year 7 months ago #237978 by Mrsmackpaul
Agree Seed

People (maybe just city people) fail to understand how a auction works

The Auctioneer is working for the vendor not the purchaser, the auctioneers job is to extract every last cent by any means possible except for running the purchaser along

I don't like online auctions, I much prefer going to a clearing sale and kicking a tyre

Having said that I have bought and sold plenty of stuff online and made sizable purchases on line at online auctions

Like everything , the online auctions have their purpose and are very handy for buying gear from a long way away

Paul

Your better to die trying than live on your knees begging
The following user(s) said Thank You: PaulFH

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
1 year 7 months ago #238008 by prodrive
As a dealer (a very small one) the fact that auctions have all gone online, has just about made it impossible to do what we used to do- go to an auction, and buy something that we could potentially make a quid on. (or not!) And as Pauly says, going to auctions was quite enjoyable, there was usually something interesting to see, or people to meet. And because you could actually see touch and feel the truck, you could make a much more educated guess at what it was worth. My dad made it an art form, he was widely known at most auctions, and buying and selling was all in good fun for him I reckon. Now you are just bidding on a bunch of photos..you certainly can't be spending time and money to go look at things that you probably aren't even going to come close to buying.
So instead of say 50-100 people at an auction, and things being knocked down as they go, as stated above by Steve, now they can go on for bloody hours after the close. I've seen a Grays auction that closed at 7.30pm, still going at midnight. So essentially what the auction houses have done is to open up their world to everyone, so now old mate can be sitting at the kitchen table with his kids in Dubbo, buying a truck in Townsville. As it's an auction, theres always that "one more bid" temptation, which we all have- without the pressure to bid before it's knocked down. And there ain't bugger all customer comeback, you buy, it, you own it! Then you add the GST and the buyers premium, which I think is bloody sneaky- I bought something for $7900 highest bid last week, actual invoice cost? $9200. Bastards, I reckon.
It's not rare for trucks to bring double what I've value them at.. And I've found that by the time you've bid like buggery to buy something, paid all the premiums and junk they add on, then you can't sell whatever it is you've bought! It's damn near too dear, and everyone that may have wanted it, has probably seen the auction and you've out bid them. So after busting your guts to buy something against a frenzy of bidders, the bloody thing sits in your yard unsold....
Obviously I'm biased and looking at it purely from my own point of view. As has been said above, the LAST thing the auction house wants, is to sell stuff cheaply. More money means more buyers premium for them as well as more stock coming in the door from people who see the crazy prices things can bring when you massively increase your customer base, then make them bid against each other. I can't knock them for doing it, (much as I hate it!) it's part of the wheel of free enterprise that keeps turning.
The real thing I don't like, is that like so many business models these days, small business gets pushed aside, leaving big business as the only one with the capital, resources, and marketing ability to keep ahead of the complexity and rigors of running a business these days.. (Bunnings compared to your local hardware store)
One well known auction house told me that going online due to covid, has saved them over $400,000 per annum, due to the massive cost saving compared to running a live auction... Not bad bucks for doing nothing!
Anyway if we had any brains we'd have started an auction eh. Now all we can do is grizzle at the silly prices things bring! (except when I sell things at auction, then they bring bugger all and I moan about losing money...)
Cheers!
Rich
The following user(s) said Thank You: hayseed, eerfree, Lang, PaulFH, V8Ian, oliver1950

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
1 year 7 months ago #238012 by Lang
For every buyer there is a seller. I don't see any sellers complaining on this thread.

Lang
The following user(s) said Thank You: hayseed

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
1 year 7 months ago #238029 by Mrsmackpaul
Exactly Lang

After all these on line auctions only work if people list things for sale and if people buy from them

Obviously enough people like them or they would fade away into nothing

Paul

Your better to die trying than live on your knees begging

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
1 year 7 months ago #238070 by prodrive
I don't complain much, only when I sell.. and when I buy..
When I buy at auction, it's "hard to get, one off, everybody want's it, so if i want it, I gotta pay a premium".
Anything I sell it at auction, I have a magical, mythical way of watching the price go way down to bugger all. And despite the fact that I may have bought said item at either the same or a different auction, and paid a bomb for it, I have the unique ability to "buy high, sell low"...
Sigh....
Then again I have a good mate that seems to do the opposite, but I think he's obviously much smarter than me..
Cheers
Rich
The following user(s) said Thank You: PaulFH

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
1 year 7 months ago - 1 year 7 months ago #238072 by Lang
It is not all bad Rich. Just think of the killing we made at the boat auction.

Just had a thought about on-line auction complaints. When Bev and I suggested a restaurant in San Francisco to go to dinner a girl said "Oh no. Nobody goes there anymore, it is too crowded"

Lang
Last edit: 1 year 7 months ago by Lang.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

Time to create page: 2.897 seconds