The first auction is said to have occurred as early as 500 BC. And it seems auctions have never gone out of style up to this day.
Christie’s located in London is the world’s largest auction house. Its first auction dates back in 1795, but over the years the auctioning has changed.
The 20th Century saw the drastic launch of eBay in 1995 by an American entrepreneur by the name of Pierre Omidyar. Over the years the number of auction sites is ever increasing. Some of the most popular sites include:-
- eBay
- Liquidation
- Bonanza
- Equify Auctions
- Ubid
- Atomic Mall
- com
In this article, we are going to look at some of the various ways people save money from these sites and live auctions.
Trust me, even if you are a newbie, these tips are bound to help you big time. Most of these tips apply to live auctions but the principles can apply to online websites as well.
- Get an overview of the items in advance.
Some sites give an overview of products before they are put out for an auction. Thus, it is best to check them out beforehand. This is a good tactic as you can figure out which items are the bestsellers.
You can look through different sites to determine which have the lowest prices.
- Research about the products to check if they are worthwhile.
After looking at items for a few days or even hours check out if the prices are worth it. If it is a new product or a reused one, check its value by looking on eBay and looking at completed listings and what they ended for.
- Setting your financial limits.
Financial preparation is the key to ensure you save money on any site or any live auction. One of the problems buyers and sellers face together is when they fail to bid diligently.
Thus it is best to bid within your budget by setting boundaries for yourself. This ensures that you don’t get carried away when you bid.
- Walk away if the price is too high.
No matter how much you think you need the item, if it is beyond your price range just walk away. Sounds like a pretty bad idea but trust it could be the best decision you can make if you want to save money. Besides the item you are looking for can almost always be found somewhere else and if you just look hard enough, you will find it and just maybe it will be a better price then you are looking for.
- Always listen to the auctioneer
In most live auctions, they have little megaphones that you can use to listen to the auctioneer. If you don’t pay attention you can get distracted easily. There are a lot of people, and many things are bound to happen.
Keep focused so that you can bid on the items you want to take home.
- Get a catalogue
A catalogue can only be described as your bible during a live auction. So this should be the first thing you grab every time you attend the auction.
The catalogue will help you highlight the items you are looking to buy. Moreover, it gives you a short description and the quantity of the items.
- Set a cap
The beauty of research is that it gives you a guarantee of how much you are supposed to pay for an item. For instance, if you had researched for a T-shirt and the maximum price is $40 and end up paying $80 you will know when to stop.
As long as you have your catalogue, you can set your cap. It is best to know when to stop so that you don’t get dragged in the heat of the moment.
- Be aware of the premium.
A good auctioneer will always remind his audience of the premium. A buyers premium ican be added to all items purchased which must be added to the hammer price. So keep this in mind when you are setting your caps as we mentioned.
- Get to know your competition
Heading to an auction can downright increase your nerves. Moreover, if you are a newbie, you might not exactly understand the tactic of bidding.
For instance, you might come across a bidder who keeps raising the bid, and this will interpret to two things:- they really want the item, or they want you to pay a high price.
The following are some tips that you might not have thought of that could help you beat the competition:
- Show up at the auction with a suit.
- Stand at the front.
- Ask questions which other bidders might be afraid to ask.
- Be audible and maintain a good posture.
- Have someone else bid on your behalf but not over you (Using your cap as the end point).
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