Make Money On eBay Blog

If you’ve been reading my articles and training materials, you know that I’m a huge fan of going to auctions to get items on eBay. Part of it is that it’s just a lot of fun. It can be a little intimidating the first time you go, but once you’ve been to a few auctions, you won’t be intimidated at all.

It used to be that when I was looking for good auctions to go to, that I’d target auctions in small towns, the thinking being was that since the towns have less people and that since small town people have a reputation for being frugal, that there’d be plenty of deals to be had.

Well, as it turns out, I was wrong - completely wrong.

I’ve gone home empty handed from more small town auctions than I care to remember. For the auctions where I did have a good take, I played the waiting game, sometimes spending more than 12 hours at an auction so I could take advantage of the thinning crowds and lower prices.

The problem with small town auctions is that when there’s an auction in town, especially during the weekend is that it’s not just an auction - it’s an event. People aren’t just at the auction to bid on items; they’re there to socialize and to take in the atmosphere. That means that auctions in small towns will have some of the most ridiculous prices you’ll see this side of collector’s car auctions.

I’ve seen items go for more than what they cost at full retail price at these small town auctions. I once watched a used computer sell for almost three times what a much faster, brand new one would have sold for if they’d have just ordered it from Dell.

A few years ago, I was in my hometown and my parents told me about a company that had gone out of business, and that the auction for what was left was the next day. I hadn’t planned on attending any auctions while I was visiting the folks, but I didn’t want to waste what I thought was a good opportunity to pick up some excellent items. The company sold farm equipment, and I wasn’t in that business, but I knew they had an office and would certainly have some items I’d want.

When we got there, I was amazed at the turnout. The town we were in had a population of less than 100 people. There were at least 600 people at this auction by the time I arrived. Not to be deterred, I managed to make my way through the mayhem and registered got my number so I could bid. When I finally managed to work my way to see what was being sold, the prices items were going for were outrageous. These people weren’t bidding on stuff they needed, it was just fun and the price wasn’t that important.

Needless to say, I didn’t make any money from going to that auction.

Now contrast that to auctions I go to in cities where there’s plenty of other stuff going on. While some of the auctions will have a couple hundred people at them, the atmosphere tends to be quite a bit different, and there are plenty of deals to be had. And frequently auctions in bigger cities will have a lot less people than that attending, so the prices you can get your items for are a lot lower.

I try to avoid small town auctions unless I know there’s going to be some really good stuff there or if I have the entire day to kill where I can wait for people to get tired, run out of money to spend, and leave. That’s when the good deals finally arrive.

Heck, even the auctioneers will get tired after an entire day so you’ll notice that they may have been slow as molasses to start the auction, but they fly through items at the end so they can get done and go home.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 20th, 2007 at 4:53 pm and is filed under eBay Selling Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.