The Auction Season
There’s a good feeling in the air; some would call it spring, others might call it the home stretch for public school, however I call it auction season. It is a chance to find out exactly what something is worth today, no excuses. It’s also your chance to purchase a box of bent aluminum window frames, a fine collection of used plastic flowers or pay twice retail for a Handyman jack.
My dad loved going to auctions. I think his approach to auctions was typical of many; they are there to talk, buy a hot dog and drink some coffee. On-site auctions hold a tremendous possibility for socializing and entertainment. It’s hard not to recognize an old friend, however it is even more likely to discuss values of individual items with a total stranger. There’s also some quality drama created by four bidders becoming three, then two followed by the last man (or woman) standing. We all want to know the answer to the question of who’s going to walk away from the ring with that old baler that needs a little work and who is just going to walk away.
I auctioned for a few years back in the 90s. I went to the Continental Auctioneer School for a week during which I stayed with several strangers who were apparently “in between” permanent housing at a hotel that offered rooms for $17 per night. I came home and caught on with Don Dietrich from Grand Forks as an auctioneer and furniture mover.
We did a few seasons of automotive auctions and a lot of estate sales.
Estate sales are brutal because you typically end up hauling multi- tiered cabinets and their contents up and down basement stairs.
It was here that I learned that the secret to moving out of a home was to always have your hands full. Automotive sales were different, I just sat there and chanted like a lounge singer while the deals were being made on the auction floor. Don was a true gentleman and a hard worker. He’s been gone since 2016 and left a noticeable absence in Grand Forks. I auctioned for him until the 1997 flood. When things finally dried up, I had moved on to farming and had no extra time to ask for your bid.
Online auctions began popping up prior to Covid however the pandemic seemed to make them more prevalent. It’s really nice to be able to look at the items then bid at your leisure. Online auctions eroded the culture of the on-site auction, I believe. All that socialization, coffee drinking and hotdog eating now have fewer outlets to express themselves. It’s also harder to sell a box of “miscellany” for a dollar online.
There are still on site sales, however. You don’t see them as often but they do exist. These sales are a chance to sharpen your ability to estimate farm equipment values and taste the emotion an oldtime gunfighter perhaps once savored as you face down that other bidder who just won’t quit-or simply holds up their number as if to say, “I can do this all day.” It’s a nice bit of history and a good chance to make new friends whose names you never learn.
So “bid to buy it” or “put ‘er in the bank and bid it a bum”. Whatever language the auctioneer chooses, it’s a good show and a chance to get a donut and coffee and see that guy who outbid you for the choice on a pair to go of handyman jacks.
