At auction, I’ve stumbled across vintage hair dryers, straightening combs, curling irons, and even plastic curlers for a doll’s hair. Blow dryers, too, end up on the tables from time to time.
But at auction over the weekend, I came across the grand mama of them all: a hair salon. The only thing missing were the walls, the floors, the doors, the shampoo bowls and the hair stylists. This was a first for me, but it brought home the notion that you can buy (and sell) just about anything at some auction somewhere .
The auction house was selling reception and styling chairs, cabinets and racks, hair dryer chairs, a manicure table and a pedicure station. Even the mirrored styling stations were included. They were from a Philadelphia salon that had gone out of business, according to an auction-house assistant.
The chairs were color-coordinated in maroon, and everything looked to be in good condition. The upholstered chairs were still smooth and uncracked, and the mirrors were unbroken (surprising, since they had to be moved here). There was some dust here and there, but that was a mere cleaning job.
I’m not sure of the going price for hair-salon equipment, but I’m sure you’d get a better price at auction. Curious, though, I Googled to see how much this stuff cost individually on the web. Some of the prices were on the sites of companies touting used equipment, but it wasn’t clear what was new and what was used.
Here’s what I found:
Hair dryer chairs: Up to $500, depending on the style and maker. One site was selling one for $175 and another for $263. You could buy an older-looking chair right out of someone’s home for $190.
Manicure table: $100 and more
Pedicure station: Up to and over $1,000. These were among the most expensive.
Styling chairs: From around $150 and up to $400.
Reception chairs: $100 and more. I found some plain ones selling for $30 each.
Product-display cabinet: Up to $300.
Styling station: Up to $400 and more. Apparently, some have shelves in the back for supplies.
A shop on amazon.com was selling a collection of eight styling chairs, three dryer chairs and three shampoo units for $5,549.
According to the auction house, the salon equipment was being sold online only from Feb. 6 to Feb. 12, 2012. I could find no mention of it, though, on the website when I checked on Feb. 7. Bidders are encouraged to inspect the equipment before making a bid, and as usual, all the stuff is sold as is with no refunds.
The hair salon was not the only commercial equipment being sold online. The auction house also had the makings of a sandwich shop, including table-top ovens for baking Otis Spunkmeyer cookies.
