Online auctions and missed opportunities ...

[mcmxi]

I wasted a lot of time yesterday trying to win a bunch of steel and some equipment on an auction for a logging company that was "retiring". I screwed up royally and missed out on some great deals due to the Mickey Mouse online bidding system that was way too slow. I should have put in max bids or gone to the auction which was about an hour and fifteen minutes from me. Some of the lots went for ridiculously low prices, and given the cost of new steel these days I messed up.

As it is, the only thing I ended up winning was ten 20ft sections of 4" Sch.40 pipe that I'll be using for a shed build. I won with a $100 bid plus 4% buyers fee which is a killer deal for sure, but I'm still annoyed at myself for missing out on tons of flatbar, angle, c-channel, H-beams, I-beams, plate and on and on.

Oh yeah, there was a lot consisting of hydraulic hose wrap, lots of wrap! I thought I could get that cheap and was going to go to $100, but it went for $250 or so. Still a good deal but not something I was prepared to go that high on. There were lots that would have cost thousands to buy or build that went for pennies on the dollar.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

wellllll, now you know for next time.....
4% is a super deal, most here are 12-14% AND 13% taxes compounded on top of that.
Was bidding on an edwards ironworker 35t that I knew the 40+ year history on(used and abused), 7 minutes from me. 3 phase power but I can covert to single phase real easy.
OK, new they're 20K, it went for $5K with ZERO tooling !

 

[mcmxi]

wellllll, now you know for next time.....
4% is a super deal, most here are 12-14% AND 13% taxes compounded on top of that.
Was bidding on an edwards ironworker 35t that I knew the 40+ year history on(used and abused), 7 minutes from me. 3 phase power but I can covert to single phase real easy.
OK, new they're 20K, it went for $5K with ZERO tooling !

No sales tax up here which is good, and yes, the 4% is very reasonable. There's a 4% CC fee so I ended up paying $108 for all the pipe which would cost thousands to buy new.

 

[GeoHorn]

I won a rare 1950’s $2400 airplane part on ebay…. for only $20…… because I searched for its’ auction….deliberately searching for the auction by MIS-spelling the item. It was new, in the box, complete with factory lifetime registration paperwork to be filed.

There were no other bidders….

I had searched for “ stall warner detecter” (instead of stall warning detector)

Another example is: alternater instead of alternator

 

[The Evil Twin]

People get bid happy in these parts. "Stuff" can be had at reasonable prices, but equipment goes for more that it's worth. Or close to it.

 

[Workerbee]

I generally avoid auctions, both online and onsite. Every time I have ever seen something I wanted, and actually put the time and effort into the bidding, it went for new price. Not a lot of sense in that. And furthermore, auctions can be a great way to buy stuff you never knew you needed or even wanted 10 minutes beforehand.

 

[mcfarmall]

My problem with auctions is that I'm not willing pay more than something is worth.

 

[NorthwoodsLife]

I won a rare 1950’s $2400 airplane part on ebay…. for only $20…… because I searched for its’ auction….deliberately searching for the auction by MIS-spelling the item. It was new, in the box, complete with factory lifetime registration paperwork to be filed.

There were no other bidders….

I had searched for “ stall warner detecter” (instead of stall warning detector)

Another example is: alternater instead of alternator

Definitely. Sellers screw up the listing and you gotta search sometimes with misspelled words or do a search less specific.

I won a brand new factory jeep top on eBay a few years ago for super cheap. $500 for a $1,500 part. Minimum bid. No other bids on it because they mislisted it. Seller bought a brand new Jeep and it came with 2 tops. Seller didn't know what they had. They said "no windows", and then listed the factory part number. In the pictures it was complete and in a sealed carton. Being a Jeep guy, i knew that that part number included windows. Seller was oblivious. Win for me.

 

[D2Cat]

I just bought a 30 gallon spray tank with pump, booms, etc....complete. Motor not working. $80. He was 60 miles away and delivered it to my drive because it happens his some lived 1/4 mile away. So he'd deliver and visit.

Needed a 7.5 amp fuse.