My wife is a hair stylist at a very nice salon nearby. She and a client were discussing their love of consignment store shopping when the client mentioned a place she recently found that is both a consignment shop and an auction house. It turns out to be just a couple of miles from the house, so we checked it out. I noticed a number of tools that would be up for auction over the weekend and so on Saturday, I went. It was my first auction, and it was a lot of fun.
That’s the auctioneer at work. It’s an odd profession. But the items up for auction were so varied and fascinating! I found myself singing “Portobello Road” in my head. (You will watch the video and enjoy the dancing! Now!)
Very unique individuals attend these events. One particular gentleman bought a Vietnam era US Army uniform and then wore the hat for the remaining 2.5 hrs of the auction.
This guy was soon to be the bane of my auction experience. More on that shortly.
First; my spoils. A router table! With a router!
I won this for 60 bucks. I’m pretty excited about this, as I’m planning to take my first foray into furniture construction soon, and this will almost certainly be a help.
I also picked up a snapper riding mower, which you can just make out in this picture below. I haven’t decided if I’ll be keeping it or not. As my mom pointed out to me, I should try to buy something I can make money on and therefore pay for the tools I am keeping. I can definitely turn a profit on the mower.
Also in the picture above is the band saw I went to the auction for. I told myself I’d bid up to 50 bucks for it, and I expected it to go much cheaper. It would have, too, if not for Captain Kreigsmarine, Bane of Auction Day. He had bid against me on the mower, and he seemed upset that I won it. The next item I bid on was the band saw, and he stared directly at me while he out bid me over and over. I don’t think he even wanted the thing. I mean, what does a guy wearing a 40 yr old Army hat who humps the air every time he bids (yes, that’s right) want with a band saw?!
Anyway, after he won the band saw, I paid for my spoils and went home to spend 30 minutes digging my trailer out of the snow it was buried in to go pick everything up. Over all, I’m happy with my first auction experience, and you can bet I’ll be back. With a wicked awesome hat.
