Just wonderin’.
Poll to follow.
Wow, I’m the first voter!
Yes to both online and offline.
Actually it surprises me any reasonably adulty-person (by which I mean someone in their 20s or more) hasn’t been.
Been to a few. The big one was the auction of the Star Trek stuff at Christies. A friend bought one of Sisko’s uniforms.
Pretty cool.
Also occurs to me I should have voted for all four choices, not just the “bid” ones. I’ve been to offline auctions where I didn’t bid, and I’ve of course been to ebay auctions where I didn’t bid, so…
I wasn’t thinking, I should have selected all 4.
I’ve been to livestock auctions but never bid.
I’ve bid on real estate, and won a few a few times.
I’ve bid on e-bay and a few other sites I can’t remember, long time ago for those.
I have never bid on any of the ‘fake’ auction sites like qbids or whatever the crap they call it.
I’ve actually been the “Vanna White” at a couple of charity type auctions, but never attended a live auction otherwise.
I’ve bid on ebay. I’ve looked at a couple other online auction sites, but they’ve all seemed too intimidating, sketchy and/or confusing, so I haven’t bid.
My SO is a mostly-retired auctioneer, and we got into a discussion about all these storage auction/ antiques auction/ collectibles auction shows on tv now. We’re divided as to whether these shows are representing the average person’s experiences, or if auctions are a niche thing.
:smack: And…I just realized this poll is entirely useless because I forgot to put in the “Never been to an auction” options. CRAP!
Sorry to have wasted your time, guys. I suck.
Heck, I’ve been auctioned!
(My old college sci-fi club auctioned off a pie-in-the-face. Mine was the face.)
I put in a request for a mercy killing. I’ll try again if/when this one is closed.
Added the option “Never been to an auction” to the poll. As of time of writing, 11 people had voted.
Thank Gukumatz! (I had no idea you could do that!)
I grew up going to estate and farm auctions. As an adult, I attended them fairly frequently for a few years, buying mostly antiques. The last live auction where I bid was at my county’s Democratic Party chili cookoff and fundraiser. I got a Tennessee flag that had flown over the capitol that day and an American flag that had flown over the national capitol one day during the previous week, along with the signed certificates.
I’ve cruised eBay auctions, but have never bid.
I got my three arcade games at an live amusement operator’s auction. $25 apiece. It was the type of place where they expected you to know what you were doing, and be prepared to haul machines. Went with a U-Haul, a 100’ extension cord, a dolly with furniture strap, and cash. Machines had to be off the premises within an hour of close… people who waited until the very end got great deals, as no one had room on their trucks, including the people who owned the machines up for auction. People were picking up 10 lesser machines (generic JAMMA cabinets, trivia games) for a dollar. If something good like Galaga came up, the bidders did go for it, then the winner pulled a lesser machine off their truck and simply gave it to anyone who wanted it. Fun times.
One type of auction not listed that I participated in was a mail auction in the late 1980s. I think this was pretty common in the collectibles market. Get a mailed catalog, mark your desired lot with your highest, final bid, then send it back. At auction’s end, you were sent a bill for your won lots, all at a certain increment higher than the bid lowest yours. It was kind of nice; no multiple rounds, no penny-anteing, no sniping.
Meet me. 75 and never been to one.
Never been to one. Never used an online auction. I have seen the auction show on tv.
I’ve been to livestock auctions. I assume that counts. I didn’t think the OP was talking about eBay, but proper auctions where you could bid online for the art or whatever, so I didn’t check that. But I have done eBay.
I love farm household auctions, especially if the auctioneer doesn’t use the stereotypical rapid-fire style of tracking bids (which I find unbearably distracting). I’ve never bid in one, but only because I haven’t come across the right items at a time when I have extra cash.
Furnished my house with stuff from estate auctions after moving back to Iowa. They’re very popular around here, not just for shopping but as social events. There’s usually food for sale – beefburgers, dessert bars, snacks, sodas.
My husband went to one this week. Spent $60 and came home with a leaf blower, a weed eater, a hand tiller, a chain saw, a gas grill, and a bunch of Christmas lights.
The oddest one was the estate of an elderly woman whose kids couldn’t agree about division of personal property, so everything she owned (except the house and land) went on the sale. (This included handbags with cash in them.) It was sad, watching siblings bid against each other for heirlooms. And silly, since the proceeds of the auction were going to be divided evenly among them anyway.
Been to many auctions, livestock, estate, and general merchandise. Just went to one last Wednesday night. Also buy and sell through Ebay. Also have bought on online auctions through Live Auctioneersand Auction Zip.
I started my first business with a truck from a city auction. My Dad was with me (I was only 18). Mine was the only bid and I paid $275.00.
It was a 1965 International Harvester if anyone’s curious.
