Chattelin, yard sales, a twist....

Hi:

Saturdays are generally the yard sale/garage sales in this area.

Every Saturday morning a group of 3 friends in this area visit yards sales - don't buy but just look and make notes of what is at which yard sale. They also ask when the sale is ending.

Saturday afternoon they revisit the different sales they noted - about a half hour before they are ready to shut down.

This is where they shine...they look at what is left (usually quite a lot), and then make a lump sum offer for everything left....the max they pay is $50 ( Most people accept their offer because it means they don't have to haul the stuff back in the house or garage and pack it away again). The goodies get loaded quickly and then on to the next.

Sunday they spend separating it...bigger items separately....smaller items in interesting box lots.

Then Tuesday it is delivered to a consignment auction which is frequented by locals as well as a quite a few flea market vendors.

Friday they pick up their cheque less the auctioneers commision. Depending on the quantity and quality they average between $2,500 to $4,000.

Just a different take on the yard sale/garage sale circuit.

Cornell

I'm going to try that here in my locale....

I think your friends are right - at the end of a garage sale, people often just want to get rid of the rest of their "junk" and never have to see it again.... Thanks for posting that!

- Dien Rice


Read about Cornell's web site here....

Hi Dien:

I quite often attend auctions looking for deals...a couple of weeks ago I bought a year old Gateway computer for $290 and sold it 2 days later for $650 using a local internet classifed ad...also a childs desk (new) for $105 and sold it for $250 the same way.

Most auctioneers ask for a fairly high opening bid, and then end up having to back track asking for an opening bid which is usually ridiculously low...then they run it up in low increments and it usually gets up to the opening bid they were asking originally plus some.

I like to get to the auctions about an hour before they start. I check out the items and single out the ones I am interested in and what II am willing to pay for them...then I sit back and watch. Watching to see who is interested in the items I am after, and how many. It takes a bit of watching and learning but after a few auctions one can tell who is going to be bidding against you.

When the auctioneer gets to my item I always make the first bid if no one starts at the auctioneers requested bid.

Using the computer above as an example (I knew I had 2 serious bidders and that the max I was going to bid was $300), this is the way the bidding went:

Auctioneer asks for opening bid of $500...no bid...I opened it at $100 (I could have gone $50 but it just would have prolonged the process, plus it was a psychological ploy on the other 2 bidders). Next bid was $110...then the 3rd bidder came in at $120. I added $50 and made my next bid at $170. Again the other bidders came back with $180 and $185...one bidder had halfed his former increment and I was confident he was going to be out on the next bid. Again I bid up by $50 to $235. Next bid was to $240 and third bidder dropped out....now there were just the two of us. Again I added the $50 increment and bid $290 (my max was set at $300)....and that was it....the other bidder quit.

You see many things happened here...I was a serious bidder and made it known by the increments I was bidding (kind of a mind game with the other bidders). The final bidder had switched his bid from a $10 dlollar increment to a $5 increment which told me he was just about done unless I played his game of low increments where it could easily run up quickly. Then I took it almost to my max...would I have bid more - no I wouldn't, and I knew I wouldn't have to. In order for this other buyer to purchase he would have had to take it to $295 or $300 (which was still low for the computer), and since he didn't know my max, he would have to assume following my pattern that my next bid would be $345 or $350 and then his subsequent one $355 - $360 ( still a viable amount)- and repeating this one more time would have meant he would have to pay at least $410 - $415 for the computer.....by him halfing his increment earlier I knew he wasn't willing to take it even to the $355 mark...what he he didn't know is that had he bid one more time he would have owned it.

I use this same activity on all auctions whether it is for something as small as a desk (using $25 dollar increments, or to larger items like cars or yard equipment where the increments can be $100 or higher.

Very seldom do I lose the item I want (unless I run into a serious bidder who wants it more than me and is willing to pay beyond the max I set for myself)...and never do I go beyond the max I set out.

As I had posted about the auction, I thought I would add this for anyone interested.

Cornell

thanks Cornell for sharing your strategy...
Do you have an ebook or special report
on strategic bidding ? just wondering...
something to think about...

Hi Dien:

> I quite often attend auctions looking for
> deals...a couple of weeks ago I bought a
> year old Gateway computer for $290 and sold
> it 2 days later for $650 using a local
> internet classifed ad...also a childs desk
> (new) for $105 and sold it for $250 the same
> way.

> Most auctioneers ask for a fairly high
> opening bid, and then end up having to back
> track asking for an opening bid which is
> usually ridiculously low...then they run it
> up in low increments and it usually gets up
> to the opening bid they were asking
> originally plus some.

> I like to get to the auctions about an hour
> before they start. I check out the items and
> single out the ones I am interested in and
> what II am willing to pay for them...then I
> sit back and watch. Watching to see who is
> interested in the items I am after, and how
> many. It takes a bit of watching and
> learning but after a few auctions one can
> tell who is going to be bidding against you.

> When the auctioneer gets to my item I always
> make the first bid if no one starts at the
> auctioneers requested bid.

> Using the computer above as an example (I
> knew I had 2 serious bidders and that the
> max I was going to bid was $300), this is
> the way the bidding went:

> Auctioneer asks for opening bid of $500...no
> bid...I opened it at $100 (I could have gone
> $50 but it just would have prolonged the
> process, plus it was a psychological ploy on
> the other 2 bidders). Next bid was
> $110...then the 3rd bidder came in at $120.
> I added $50 and made my next bid at $170.
> Again the other bidders came back with $180
> and $185...one bidder had halfed his former
> increment and I was confident he was going
> to be out on the next bid. Again I bid up by
> $50 to $235. Next bid was to $240 and third
> bidder dropped out....now there were just
> the two of us. Again I added the $50
> increment and bid $290 (my max was set at
> $300)....and that was it....the other bidder
> quit.

> You see many things happened here...I was a
> serious bidder and made it known by the
> increments I was bidding (kind of a mind
> game with the other bidders). The final
> bidder had switched his bid from a $10
> dlollar increment to a $5 increment which
> told me he was just about done unless I
> played his game of low increments where it
> could easily run up quickly. Then I took it
> almost to my max...would I have bid more -
> no I wouldn't, and I knew I wouldn't have
> to. In order for this other buyer to
> purchase he would have had to take it to
> $295 or $300 (which was still low for the
> computer), and since he didn't know my max,
> he would have to assume following my pattern
> that my next bid would be $345 or $350 and
> then his subsequent one $355 - $360 ( still
> a viable amount)- and repeating this one
> more time would have meant he would have to
> pay at least $410 - $415 for the
> computer.....by him halfing his increment
> earlier I knew he wasn't willing to take it
> even to the $355 mark...what he he didn't
> know is that had he bid one more time he
> would have owned it.

> I use this same activity on all auctions
> whether it is for something as small as a
> desk (using $25 dollar increments, or to
> larger items like cars or yard equipment
> where the increments can be $100 or higher.

> Very seldom do I lose the item I want
> (unless I run into a serious bidder who
> wants it more than me and is willing to pay
> beyond the max I set for myself)...and never
> do I go beyond the max I set out.

> As I had posted about the auction, I thought
> I would add this for anyone interested.

> Cornell

Hi Sandy:

> Do you have an ebook or special report
> on strategic bidding ? just wondering...
> something to think about...

Actually after I posted both messages and while answering a few email questions on the topics it crossed my mind that I should probably add this topic to the quck cash series of reports and ebooks I am working on.

Thanks for reinforcing the idea.

Cornell

> ...they look at what
> is left (usually quite a lot), and then make
> a lump sum offer for everything left....the
> max they pay is $50 ( Most people accept
> their offer because it means they don't have
> to haul the stuff back in the house or
> garage and pack it away again). The goodies
> get loaded quickly and then on to the next.

Thanks for the idea! In the last two weeks I have made more than $1,000 in an online moving sale of books and tapes at my web site. As I'm approaching moving day, I was thinking I would have to donate all the remaining unsold books to the public library (which is fine, I've done it many times before). You gave me the idea of setting a low price for everything that's left. Again, thanks!

Marcia Yudkin


Still some book bargains available here...