Buying Advice Auctions?

[joea99]

Advice for buying at auction, Internet bidding.

So is bidding on equipment a compact TLB in this case, just another case of "A Fool and his money? Or is it reasonable to give them a shot?

There are some fairly low hour "clean looking" machines listed, but it is problematic getting an accurate description of condition. Then there are the obviously abused machines that say "runs and drives", which I take to mean "weak and gimpy".

Thanks for any advice.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I have bought several things at auction. Usually the auction company is not going to say more than runs and drives because anything more could potentially be held against them. If they said it was a great piece of equipment that will last you a long time and something happens that they were not aware of it could make the auction house look untrustworthy if nothing else.

Something expensive enough that would cause me hardship if it was not in the condition expected I would absolutely go inspect in person before bidding. Sometimes they will go cheap enough that you can afford to fix some potential issues and still be out less than normal value. Probably more often they will go for normal used value or higher.

 

[workinonit]

I see very nice equipment on auctions a lot. And I frequent quite a few of them. Been to 2 this month. Then again, I see a ton of junk on them. If I'm going to bid online, I go by ahead of time and look at what I want to bid on. I probably wouldn't buy a big ticket item sight unseen. But that's just me.

 

[workinonit]

There ya go. Like minds.

 

[YanmarFever]

Always look at the item FIRST in person.

I bought a Cadillac sports car a few years ago off ebay, the seller said it was like new cond. ( NOT) !!!!
The wipers didn't work along with the AC and it steered funny...
People will say anything to get you to part with your $$$

 

[MattB4]

My advice is do your research thoroughly on any item that you get interested that is Online Auction. It is not difficult to Google the year, brand and model. Even respected Brand names may have models that everyone knows are not worth owning. These trouble machines are often spotted on Auction since regular sale is difficult. Look for online reviews.

You often can find similar units that already sold at Auction and for how much they went for. Understand if there is any fees, special payments requirements, taxes, wiring fees and time you have to pickup the item. Think about what it is going to take to transport it to your home.

Personally I have found that bidding before the last few minutes of the online Auction is a futile endeavor. Especially picking so called Max bid. Even in the last minutes Bids made will cause the Auction to be extended by another minute for others to over bid you.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Oh yeah. I forgot about buyer's and seller's fees. More and more I'm seeing buyer's fees. If there is a 10% buyer's fee that means you will have to pay an additional percentage on top of the bid that won the auction. a 10% buyer's fee on $10,000 would require $11,000 paid to settle your winning bid.

 

[lilranch2001]

Ifn I haven’t put my own two eyeballs and hands on something I’m not gonna bid on something!

 

[newbury]

Advice for buying at auction, Internet bidding.

So is bidding on equipment a compact TLB in this case, just another case of "A Fool and his money? Or is it reasonable to give them a shot?

Bought my M4700 at a Gov. Surplus auction.

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$11,500
If you can check it out in person and trust the seller, well worth it.

 

[joea99]

My advice is do your research thoroughly on any item that you get interested that is Online Auction. It is not difficult to Google the year, brand and model. Even respected Brand names may have models that everyone knows are not worth owning. These trouble machines are often spotted on Auction since regular sale is difficult. Look for online reviews.

You often can find similar units that already sold at Auction and for how much they went for. Understand if there is any fees, special payments requirements, taxes, wiring fees and time you have to pickup the item. Think about what it is going to take to transport it to your home.

Personally I have found that bidding before the last few minutes of the online Auction is a futile endeavor. Especially picking so called Max bid. Even in the last minutes Bids made will cause the Auction to be extended by another minute for others to over bid you.

All good points.

The stuff I'm looking at are well known and well regarded. The actual condition, however is clearly not known. They are too far for it to be practical for me to inspect myself and finding a "buyers agent" is probably not gonna happen. Some have clearly been out in the weather, but do not appear "beaten". Couple others have decals on them that indicate rental or lease units but appear clean and solid.

Yeah, the fees are "death by a thousand cuts" it seems.

I've seen auctions that go nuts in the last few minutes going from almost nothing to thousands over what is reasonable.