Sometimes, walking into an auction house can be as intimidating as walking into an art gallery. But in both cases, they’re not. They both want the same thing: They want you to buy from them. To make the experience a little less fearful, I offer these tips.
First and foremost:
You are the buyer. You are in charge. You don’t have to buy anything. You can sit there as long as you want and observe. But trust me, you’ll eventually see something you must have.
Most auction houses have guides on their websites outlining the process for bidding: getting a bid number; paying a premium, which can range from 10 percent to up to 25 percent on top of the price you bid and letting you know when to pick up items (at small places, they hand the items to you once you win the bid).
Listen carefully to what the auctioneer is saying before the bidding starts – basically that items are sold AS-IS. So it’s up to you to examine them closely. If the auctioneer misrepresents an item, they usually will come clean.
- Attend a few auctions to get a feel for the process, the auctioneers, the other bidders and the merchandise. Try out different auction houses to find the one that works for you.
- Always check the auction house website before you go to see if there’s anything that interests you. If you find something, check eBay or Google using the right keywords to describe your item to see how much it has sold for. That will give you a good idea of how much you should pay for it. Look for what an item sold for, not what the buyer was selling for it. The sites will also have photos of the item.
- Go to the actual previews at the auction house. Previews are held a day or two before the auction and on the same day prior to the sale. Items are sold AS-IS, so the preview gives you a chance to examine them carefully.
- Don’t be afraid to touch items, comb through trays and box lots, and take items out of containers for inspection. A real auction house will not frown on it. Box lots and trays are like grab bags of different types of items, sometimes related, most times not. These can be the best buys.
- Examine items closely for cracks, scratches and damage. Decide how much damage is OK.
- Note the composition of items: If it’s silver or gold, make sure you know how to tell. Same with jewelry: What’s costume jewelry and what isn’t. What’s signed and what isn’t. Does it matter to you? Most auction houses will promote signed pieces to ensure multiple bidders.
- Jot down notes on items you like. If necessary, do some quick research before the auction starts by checking eBay and Google on your smartphone. You can also check liveauctioneers.com and invaluable.com, which aggregate auctions and auction houses from all over the country, making it easier for bidders.
- If you have questions about the process, talk to other bidders auction-house staffers. i
- You may wonder where all this stuff comes from. It comes from a number of places: a person dies and the family clears out the home and the estate, people getting rid of items they no longer need, collectors selling or weeding out their collections, or dealers selling what they bought at another auction house.
Online:
Online auctions have proliferated. Auction houses love them because they expand their audience and boost their sales. Instead of selling to bidders in the room, they can sell to folks living in the next state over, across the country and across the world.
Liveauctioneers.com and invaluable.com have made it easier for them to do that.
- Preparations are the same for bidding. Check the auction house website before the auction starts. Do your homework by researching items through Google and eBay. A drawback: You can’t handle the items. So, it’s important to buy from a reputable auction house that clearly states the flaws (or not) in its description of an item.
- Don’t be afraid to call or email to ask questions of the owners at small mom-and-pop auction houses, or designated experts at large ones. I prefer the mom-and-pops because they are small family businesses. The bidders who attend them get to know each other by name or face, and the atmosphere is friendly.
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