When: June 25th
Where: The home of my parents
Why: Years ago when eBay gained in popularity, I was skeptical and never got on the bandwagon. There are two reasons why this idea didn't sit well with me. First, choosing the price for something is not my idea of fun; case in point, haggling for every little thing on my recent trip to North Africa was not the least bit enjoyable. Second, I am not the type of person who shops for fun. I need a lot of time to mull over decisions, I comparison shop and search for sales, and I prefer using my money for experiences and not really for stuff. So, because the intent of this list is to do things outside of my comfort zone, the pressure situation brought on by a live auction seemed like an interesting idea. A few months ago, a friend of mine told me about a local auction at a furniture store, but I was out of town. It seemed like I wouldn't get another chance - auctions aren't as common as I thought - until my parents decided to have an auction prior to their recent move.This auction was definitely a bit more emotional than I bargained for because I'm standing there, watching complete strangers bark out amounts of money for items that have been in my family for generations. Watching all of those heirlooms be reduced to a bunch of dollar amounts shouted by an auctioneer at a group of people was difficult. I had gone in hoping to bid on a few things of importance to me, but the things I wanted went for money amounts that surprised me. A lot. Some guy in California called in to bid $900 on an army helmet! The flip side was that things that meant a great deal to me, in more than one case, also went for very little money, and it all happens so fast. Too fast.
The one thing I was determined to keep was a chair my grandpa had in his home. Upon first glance, it is not something my friends would expect me to want; the material and shape are not really my style. The secret is in the side compartment: this chair has an amazing back massage system in it, run by the kind of good ol' fashioned American mechanics that they just don't make put in things anymore. It has heat, it has rollers, it even has a vibrating foot rest to massage my feet. This means that I don't have to rely on getting pedicures at my local nail spa to enjoy a wonderful relaxing hour or so in a massage chair.
I learned a lot about how an auction is run, and it definitely has merit over a garage sale (*everything* goes). One of the auctioneers was a guy I went to high school with in my hometown, so he was nice enough to point out some key elements as we went along, like that they will group things together to get a better offer, they start with big value items first to get the money flowing, etc. It is interesting, and they really do talk so fast you barely catch what is happening. While I was bidding on my chair against two other bidders, the auctioneer was taking all of our bids and passing them on in lightning speed, and you do get caught up in it, and there is definitely no time to think about how much you are spending in the moment. I had gone in with a game plan to spend under $100, so luckily the other guys bowed out and I didn't have to lose the chair. I actually think I'll go sit in it as soon as I submit this post!
1 comment:
I'm glad you won the chair! That's pretty cool!
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