WHAT IS AN AUCTION?

An Auction is a public sale in which each item is sold to the person who offers the highest bid. Auctions can be made up of items from a multitude of sources including excess business stock, unpaid storage locker contents, estates, liquidations etc.

Many businesses obtain goods from auctions because of the huge potential for saving money. You will find that most auctions are open to the general public which is good for you because you can take advantage of the exact same money savings. It is an easy and fun social atmosphere at auctions.

Here are some handy auction tips to help first timers on their way...

1. When you arrive at the auction you will be required to register and obtain a "bidding card" if you wish to bid on any items. Your name, address, phone number, and a current driver's license as a form of I.D. will be required for this. With this registration you are accepting the rules of the auction as set out on the reverse of the bidding card. Please read it!

2. The Bidding Card is used to indicate to the auctioneer your intent to bid on the item that is up for sale. The auctioneer will not take your bid if you scratch your nose or wave at a friend across the room. Watch others around you to see how simple it is.

3. When an item comes up for sale the auctioneer asks for a price from the seller. If there are no bids on that price it will go down until there is a bid. Once a bid is established, the price will rise while others bid until the highest bidder (last one to bid) becomes the buyer.

4. During the auctioneers' chant, most of what is being said is what the auctioneer wants for the next bid. If you listen closely you will hear them say things like "I'm bid $20.00, where's $25.00, $25.00, $25.00?". If you're interested in the item for $25.00, you'll indicate your intention with your bidding card - showing it to the auctioneer until it is noticed. Once the auctioneer notices your card, your bid is picked up and you will then hear "I'm bid $25.00, where's $30.00, $30.00, $30.00?". This process continues for every item/lot up for sale until there is a buyer. If you are the last bidder on an item/lot, you are the buyer! Congratulations on your purchase.

5. Pay attention to how the auctioneer sells particular items/lots and to the increments they are using in raising the price. As a safeguard, keep a personal price limit in mind for each item you intend to bid on. Bidding can be very fast and with a mental limit you will be able to think better and not pay more than what you had intended.

6. Don't forget to pick up and pay for your items.

How items are sold

For the most part items are sold individually (one price for each item)

In some cases there may be several items forming what is called a "lot". The auctioneer will advise the audience as to which items are forming the lot. In the case of a set, such as four matching chairs, rather than sell the chairs individually with risk that several different buyers could break the set, the auctioneer will state that the bidding will be on one item in the lot. The closing bid will be multiplied by the number of items forming the lot "So much apiece, you take all four". In this ca se the final price for the lot is the final bid multiplied by four.

In selling multiples of the same item, such as three desks, each desk is an individual item. Prior to the bidding, the auctioneer will say "Highest Bidder can take as many as you want". T he highest bidder can buy the other two desks for the same amount of money each! This, of course, does not mean the other two desks are free.

What if I only have a few things?
If you require a few articles to be sold, don't let that inventory just sit there, turn it into money, we'll include it in our next sale.

I have a lot to move, is bringing it there absolutely necessary?
In the case of a large enough household/estate or liquidation, we can arrange the sale right on site; however, one has to keep in mind that having the items moved to a different location can be advantageous, especially if they are remotely located.

Major company liquidations/bankruptcies can be held on-site.

If you have any additional questions free to ask anyone at
Woody's Auctions Ltd.