Darn auction house

[Welder Dave]

Another guy and myself are selling quite a few trailer axles from 3500lb. to 10,000lb. from the trailer shop he works at. The owner just wanted them gone. Called the auction and the guy came over and said they should sell, well at least a good portion of them. Anyway he allows you to put subject to on lots you want a reserve on. Because it's online you can also bid on your own items. I don't like to do this but I'm not letting them go for peanuts. Just finished 1 auction and I bid up 6 heavy steel racks to $100. Several axles with subject to had bids but didn't meet my minimum. No problem they can notify the bidder he didn't win the lot but could buy the lot for my reserve. Kind of a win win for everybody. The minimums I wanted were really reasonable from about $100 to highest was $300 for a pair of axles with brakes and suspension. Several axles were torsion axles as well worth a lot of money and some axles were new and unused. Some axles that were supposed to be "subject to" weren't listed as such and I had to manually bid on them. Apparently even though it was their mistake they won't call the 2nd highest bidder to see if they want the lot for my minimum. They said that doesn't look good for them.

I went on Friday to pay for a few items I bought and they were a upset I didn't come on Thu. the day after the sale to let them know if my reserves were met. Why didn't they ask me what the reserves were when I told them which ones had a reserve?? OK, this got all straightened which ones were subject to and the minimums I'll accept. Apparently after all this and highlighting the ones that were subject to and the minimum they got it completely wrong. I looked at their current industrial sale and see most of the big ticket items clearly state subject to consignors approval in the full description. I look at the axles in the sale and none of them say subject to that should. The only axles out of all of them to have subject to were 2 10,000lb. bare axles with no hubs or anything that I would take $2 for. I don't want to have to haul all these axles away because the guy is mad at me for pointing out there huge mistake in not listing them subject to. I was just there on Friday! Maybe they can add the subject to as the auction runs another 6 days but if not how do I tell them they're incompetent without them being mad and telling me to haul the axles away? Seems it was pretty easy for the bigger items so why is it so hard for the axles? I am totally baffled! It's comical that their web site says they put 110% into everything they do. Do I not matter as a consigner with only a few thousand $$$ worth of items?? What's the best way to "politely" confront them to explain how simple it should have been when I was just there?

 

[Shimmy1]

Sorry, Dave, but I don't think you're going to get much sympathy out of us for an auction company that basically condones a consignor shill bidding.

Sorry, not sorry.

 

[Welder Dave]

I don't like it, that's why I listed the items to be subject to. Originally he didn't seem to like it when I said I want to put subject to on some of the expensive axles. When it didn't look like there was much interest he told me I can bid on any lots I think are too low. What, that's really shady. Subject to let's everybody know in advance and he states on his web page they will put subject to on lots prior to them being listed. I've never dealt with this place before but now that I have I realize they're rather shady. Tell you what you want to hear and then just drop the ball. I don't want to have to bid on my own items or any other items that seem to keep going up in price. I'm finding this out after I've spent several days hauling all the stuff to the auction. Apparently online auctions don't have to follow the same or any rules that public in person auctions do. I'm looking for suggestions on how to deal with them not putting subject to on the lots they highlighted? If I didn't know better I'd almost think they did it on purpose to force me to bid up items to my reserve. If that's the case he can go fcku himself. I just wanted to sell some axles and not give the best ones away. I certainly won't be dealing with this place anymore.

 

[Delmer]

It's my impression that "subject to approval" is usually a formality if a public entity is selling bigger items that they don't want to give away, but probably would sell as long as the result is realistic.

Why they screwed up the items to have reserve on is harder to explain.

If you thought online auctions didn't allow/encourage shill bidding, have you ever sold through online consignment auctions?

 

[Welder Dave]

I had no idea but when I saw you can put subject to figured it was the best way to go and everybody knows up front. My reserves are very reasonable. I chose bargain auction prices not the same if I tried to sell them private. IE/ new 7000lb axle with brakes and drums for $200, new 3500lb axle with brakes and drums $125-$150 depending on the axle. The most expensive are 2 new 10,000lb torsion axles with hyd. brakes but no drums $225ea. The last axles are a few thousand each to buy new. I'm not prepared to let them sell for the $10 that was bid in the 1st auction. They were listed as subject to in that auction. They aren't listed in the current auction so maybe the bidder wants them for the reserve or they didn't hear back in time for listing them in the next auction? I think it was stupid to have the auction end and a new auction start 2 days later, with some of the same items, before you contact bidders on the subject to lots. Hopefully they add the subject to and don't tell me oops it's too late to change the listings. Not 1 of the lots subject 2 was listed as such. Only 1 lot says subject to and it's something somebody could basically take. It was also stupid to expect me to just drop everything and be there to see if my reserves were met. The guys wife who I mostly dealt with calls me up the next day and expected me to just know if I'll accept any of the bids of the top of my head. I said I'd have to look at all the lots and the bids. I think there were 15 subject to lots. I said I'd come the next day. I get there and guy says where were you yesterday. WTF? I didn't know I was expected to be here. I figured they'd be busy processing everything from the sale. I told him I had some stuff to do and a Dr's. appt. I dealt with the guy in good faith. I can't say the same about him. I think he was just looking for things that might sell. If they screw me around I should get on the internet and let everybody know what kind of shysters they are. Hopefully they can fix it.

 

[OzDozer]

I think you're dealing with a bunch of incompetent business people. I'd pick up my stuff and go somewhere where they show a far better level of competent business practices.

 

[Old Doug]

I have always been told and live by it that a auction is a place to get rid of stuff no matter what the out come is . They are having a consignment auction here next week end i really hope i can take some stuff there to get rid of.

 

[Welder Dave]

This is not a complete unreserved auction like Ritchie Bros. I have a strong feeling he doesn't want reserves/subject to on all the lots of decent value even if that decent value is $100. It's not a big auction but has some high dollar items like a drilling rig with a starting bid of $100,000 and a couple skid steers, etc. Everyone of these lots states very clearly *** Subject to consignors approval ***. I don't get it. If there is any interest in the axles they have to call the high bidder to let them know if their bid was accepted or not. If it wasn't they tell the bidder the price they could buy it for. This is how most auctions with reserves work including the Mecum car auctions. They try to help the seller get a sale and they make money too. It would be in their best interest to say it's a good deal because it instantly puts money in their pocket. Like I mentioned above it's win, win, win for the buyer, the seller and the auctioneer. Pretty easy way to try and make some extra cash if you ask me. It's their policy to allow reserves and reserves generally mean it's not junk someone's trying to get rid of. I have no issue with having reserves on the better axles. It's up front and the buyer knows in advance. I can pick up the axles if need be but it's winter now and including the bare axles that could sell for $5 or $10, there's about 50 axles. That's a few trailer loads out to my property an hour away. Another thought is we have a contract. I take away the 10 or so axles with a reserve and stick him with all the bare axles to try and sell no matter how long it takes. The money is in the axles with a reserve. He knew from the outset we wanted a couple thousand dollars for them. We gave him the opportunity to buy the whole works and he declined. He could have easily made at least a $1000 profit. He did say however they should sell and said some should go for 2 or $300. Those are the ones with reserves from $100 to a max. of $300 for a pair of 7000lb. axles with brakes and springs. Next highest reserves are $225. I wouldn't even net 10% of what it would cost to buy the axles new after he gets his 35%. Even before his commission I'm only looking for 10-12% of replacement. I don't think that's asking for too much. I will see tomorrow. I really hope they do the right thing and put the subject to on them. If he says it's too late, I guess I put a proxy bid on them and likely take them all away. I'm not letting them go for $10. Some bids in the 1st sale weren't far off the reserve. I thinks it's likely some of those bidders would spend a little more if they wanted the axle.

 

[IceHole]

Usually bidding on your own stuff will result in being blacklisted.

 

[Welder Dave]

It's illegal in public auctions but not in online auctions. This is not a complete unreserved auction. They allow reserves(subject to) but they didn't post subject to on the lots I discussed in detail with them. The guy encouraged me to bid on my own items in the last auction but most of the subject to were listed as such. Not all but most. This current sale none of them are listed as subject to. I am NOT happy or comfortable bidding my own items up.

 

[56wrench]

You could have listed some or all of them on facebook marketplace

 

[Old Growth]

Why not list them here for sale?

 

[Welder Dave]

I have some better news. Apparently the guy that listed them didn't put the subject to on but says I'm covered on those lots. Maybe when bids are entered it says subject to or reserve not met? It would have been nice to let me know so I'm not panicking that I have to take them out of the auction or bid on them. Looking at the bids, most of them will sell and met my reserves and even exceeded some by a $50-$75. Looks like will have sold $2000 worth, a few on the brink of my reserves at $725 and a few that are just too low worth about $600. We also sold the racks in the 1st auction for $600. I'm happy with this and hope some of the bids come up a little or a lot for a few. There's still 4 days for the auction to run and it's common to get last minute bids so I'm hoping a bunch come up. We initially wanted to get $2000-$2500 for the axles and we're right there but we didn't really know what all we had because they were put in a big heaping pile. I've got a bad head cold that I might have got from the lady at the auction house because she is sick today and wasn't in. This sucks but at least the auction is going good.

 

[chidog]

Why not list them here for sale?

I fully agree. Before running to a stinking auction place (I don't like any of them). First be prepared to not get the top dollar you think you want, just like can happen at a stupid auction. And offer what you have to sell in forums like this, or on places like Craigslist, also road signs or what ever. An auction place should be the last desperate move to sell something. Pretty much everyone in a certain business has different contacts, and maybe they know some poor old retired guy that is looking for another project, try that as well.
Just like what happened here about a year ago. I was going to go talk to the folks that owned some machines that were sitting for a long time at a close by storage yard, but I thought why bother they will want too much for what I was interested in. Didn't know till it was too late they had an auction and a few of what I was looking at sold very low, I would have been very happy to pay exactly what the seller got out of the deal for one of them, as I'm sure the auction place gets their percentage of the sale.
Yeah can't stand auction outfits.

 

[Welder Dave]

I was really pressed for time to get the axles moved. The shop owner was going to send them for scrap and he needed the room where they were stored on the racks. I didn't want to take 8 trips or so out to my property an hour away and unload them without forks. That would be a real pain having to wrap a strap around them to pick them up. The auction was a quick, easy and convenient way of at least getting them moved. I have no idea about selling stuff online if the buyer is out of town, same with shipping them. They are meeting my reserves now so we should get a little over $3000 for the ones that sell.

 

[Vetech63]

Someone here always said you get screwed in the auctions. Who was that guy?

 

[Welder Dave]

It's looking pretty good and I'll keep the lube hidden.

 

[Welder Dave]

Holy crap, the axles are up to almost $7300! The auctioneer screwed up. LoL We would have sold them all directly to him for $2000-$2500. We asked him to make an offer. This is good though and we'll both take home over $2500 each after the commission is taken off. There's still 3 days left on the auction so I'm almost certain a few will get some last minute bids to try and steal them from the current highest bidder. Other than having a terrible head cold I'm doing fantastic this week. I sold the welder for a quick $300 profit and will be getting another $2500+ next week. I hope I don't drop dead now. You know the song "Ironic"... He won the lottery but died the next day.

 

[cfherrman]

How much are they worth new? I didn't think they would be worth much.

 

[Welder Dave]

Some are brand new, some are pairs with brakes and a lot of them are torsion axles. There's also a lot of bare axles that are selling for $10 but that's OK because they'd be hard to sell. Currently around 40 lots will sell. On the better axles with brakes, suspension or pairs, the bids run from around $125 to $475 for a pair of 6000lb. axles with springs. I have no problem not letting go of any of the axles in the 1st sale that didn't meet the reserve. It's quite obvious my reserves are a bargain for an auction. Some of the axles run from about $650 to over $1500 new. Two 10,000lb. torsion axles with hydraulic brakes are worth a few thousand each new. I'm not letting them go for $10 which I think was the bid in the 1st sale. I had a reserve of $225ea. on them but should have went higher. If the high bidder doesn't want them for $225 I'll put them in another sale in spring with a higher reserve or try to sell them private. I'm delighted this sale attracted the right buyers. Too bad the racks and all the axles weren't just all put in the 2nd auction. I think I would have got more than $100ea. for the heavy racks. This auction doesn't have a lot of items but it's clear the axles are making the most money. Unless people are waiting till the last minute to bid it's not looking like the big ticket items will reach reserve. Some of the axles are bid higher than a light tower. A couple good skid steer buckets are under $100.