The hot tub was literally the elephant in the room. You could not walk from one room in the auction house to another without practically bumping into it.
As big as it was, though, I had not noticed it until an auction-regular asked me if I had seen it. The tub was invisible to me as I crazily moved from a room full of antique dolls to another with the regular supply of paintings, glassware and other knickknacks and another with cheap box lots. On this day, there was too much stuff to preview.
A metal tag on the tub bore the label “Image Spa.” The tub was encased in a wood surround that was missing a few vertical slats here and there. A wide gray water-stained cover, folded in half, was propped against one side.
Once I saw the tub, it was not to be missed again. It didn’t attract many admiring eyes, though, likely because none of us could figure out how to get the thing home if we bought it. But that wasn’t all.
The tub and its cover were filthy. One section on the inside of the tub was thick with dust and dirt, and I’m sure the filter was just as bad. “You’d think someone would’ve cleaned it first,” one auction-goer said to me. He was right. That may have made it much more appealing.
In the middle of all the dirt lay a small travel-size bar of Dove soap in an unopened box. It would take a million of those to lather up this thing up to clean it.
The auction for the hot tub didn’t occur until later in the day during the furniture sale. About 20 or so people stood with the auctioneer around its perimeter.
This tub is worth $1,000, the auctioneer said, and just to give buyers a break, he started the bidding at $500. Not a soul took a nibble. Then he dropped the price and kept dropping it until he stopped at $50. One man called out $30, and the auctioneer accepted the bid. He tried mightily for a $35 counteroffer but he only got silence.
Finally, he gave up and sold that huge hot tub for $30. Then he and his troop of buyers moved on to the next item of furniture – a three-piece bedroom set.
I wondered how the buyer would get the tub home. He’d take it apart and move it in pieces, he said. I found that a bit strange, since the largest piece was the deep tub itself. It made me wonder if he had thought through the purchase before making it.
Apparently, his female companion (who may have been his wife) wondered the same thing when he called out to her that he had bought the monstrosity he was standing next to. She was seated comfortably in a cushioned chair far away from the furniture auction. She was incredulous, wondering why he had bought such a thing. If she’d bought it, she said, he’d think that she had lost it.
A few minutes later, I overheard the buyer telling another man – one of several who engaged him about his purchase – that he had bought it for his sister’s back yard.
I watched as the buyer examined the tub. He tried to open what looked like a door but wasn’t. He pulled aside the dirty gray cover, and spider webs were attached to the wood. This tub seemed to have been out of service for a long time.
In Googling later, I found free Image hot tub manuals that made setup and care of these spas seem like a chore:
When filled, they can weigh up to 2,000 pounds.
You should check your local building codes before installing it outside.
The tub must be near an electrical outlet. The power cord must be plugged into a grounded circuit (at a particular amp), and should not be buried in the ground. Don’t use an extension cord.
The tub should be near a water source. You’ll need a garden hose or some other device for filling it.
The water pump must be primed (there are instructions) each time you refill the tub or clean the filter. You must test and treat the water.
Keep electrical appliances – radios, TVs – and metal objects away from the tub.
Don’t allow water temp to exceed 104 degrees. Do use a thermometer to gauge it.
