Auction deals/steals

[cowgirl8]

I'd love to see things you've gotten at a auction for a steal. We have several auctions in our area and we are always getting things we didnt know we wanted.
I wanted this last find, got it for less than half what it would cost. Its unused, but had some dented spots on it. Otherwise its in new shape. Paid 200. Lots of people were there looking at it, but most didnt stick around ALL DAY to get it like i did..lol

My husband bought more things, a wood lathe, metal band saw and some angle iron.

 

[M.Magis]

I buy lots of stuff at auctions, but you have to know what you're buying and what it's worth. A lot of people don't and overpay. I bought a Paul portable cattle scale with squeeze for $100. It was missing some scale components, but the chute works fine. I also got a 3pt spreader for $45. I think those were my best deals.

 

[Aaron]

Private estate sales are probably even better for deals than auctions. I went to one that I got a 3 pt spreader for $25, 4 bale rings for $50 each, an NH hammer mill for $100, a 3 pt subsoiler for $40 and some other decent deals. Sure liked the ability to name my price and no competition.

 

[dun]

The best I ever did was a like new heavy duty Chicago hammer drill with 10 new bits for 12 bucks.

 

[cowgirl8]

What happens out here is there are things people have no idea what they are or what the value is, specially tools. My husband got a set of gear pullers in a big metal cabinet for around 18 dollars and its worth over 1500. And whats great is, he uses pullers. He will never need for a puller, it has just about any kind a person would ever need.

 

[TexasBred]

Guess I'm way too disciplined to spend too much money on stuff I don't need, let alone want. :lol2:

 

[cowgirl8]

Guess I'm way too disciplined to spend too much money on stuff I don't need, let alone want. :lol2:

Now that most of us have internet in our pockets, its easy to find out what something cost. One of our best buys of something i didnt know i wanted was some Priefert stable fronts, the really fancy ones. We have a stable but we've never finished it. Its worked well for almost 20 years so i just assumed it would always be like it is. But, we followed the auctioneer around and he got to these Priefert seconds. The stall fronts were so fancy and when they went for 150, i kicked my husband for not bidding on them. They were selling a set of 2 and the bidder thought he was getting them for 150 for the 2. He pulled out and the bidding started on them again. We got them for 150 each for the 2. My horse will have such a fancy stable once they are in. They have a few bent parts on them, but nothing we cant fix. They are the 2500 dollar ones they sell...we got them for 150 each..

 

[Rafter S]

It wasn't an auction, but I was looking around in an antique store about 30 years ago. They had a few old tools that I was checking out, and I found a 1/2" drive Snap-on breakover handle for $1.25. Not a thing wrong with it. I still have it.

And I was at a pawn shop some years ago and picked up a handful of tools, like drill bits, chisels, punches, etc. I walked up to the counter, laid the stuff down, and asked the man how much he wanted for all of it. He gathered it up, turned around, laid them on a scale, and said $1.50. That's the first and only time I ever bought tools by the pound.

 

[cowgirl8]

As we waited for what my husband had picked out to bid on at last weekends auction, and the clock was ticking because we had to be at the annual fireman fish fry to work, he bid on this. I was like, "Its a hunk of junk." He said, "I dont know what i'll use it for but it has a motor i could use for something else and no one was bidding so i jumped in with 5 bucks and got it."

He finally got it out of the trailer and looked it up. He knew he needed something like that, just didnt know why. The pump is a 800 dollar pump and is in like new condition. My husband makes his own fuel out of used hydraulic fluid and this pump will work for pumping this oil somewhere. He explained to me, but i cant remember..But, he was so excited. A while back he found 6000 gallons of used hydraulic fluids in barrels and bought it for a dollar a gallon. He can use this fuel, once it goes through the contraption he made to refine it, in the logging equipment. When he first started making his diesel, some of the new stuff wouldnt run on it. But the craigslist logging equipment will. I remember when he was working on it his refinery, he had problems finding a pump. Well, this is the pump he needed but at the time did not want to spend 800 on it. 5 bucks is more his price range..lol

 

[Limomike]

I think the best deal I got at an auction was a nearly new John Deere chainsaw in the case, with a gallon of chain oil, two new chains for $75. That was over 10 years ago, and I still use it.

 

[cowgirl8]

I think the best deal I got at an auction was a nearly new John Deere chainsaw in the case, with a gallon of chain oil, two new chains for $75. That was over 10 years ago, and I still use it.

Cant beat a good chainsaw. Good deal

 

[chippie]

the best deal that we ever got was an old farm wagon made from a Model T running gear that had some junk metal on it. No one would bid on it and the auctioneer said, will someone give me $1.
My husband gave him a dollar. The "junk" had some useful stuff in it. Antique pots and farm implements. He used the wagon for years with his horses, then he sold it for $500 after the horses passed.
Our kids still talk about hauling loose hay on the Dollar Wagon.

 

[cowgirl8]

the best deal that we ever got was an old farm wagon made from a Model T running gear that had some junk metal on it. No one would bid on it and the auctioneer said, will someone give me $1.
My husband gave him a dollar. The "junk" had some useful stuff in it. Antique pots and farm implements. He used the wagon for years with his horses, then he sold it for $500 after the horses passed.
Our kids still talk about hauling loose hay on the Dollar Wagon.

Do you have a picture of it? I'd love to see it

 

[Nesikep]

I've made a few deals... I got a 6" Record vice with stand for $40, I missed a nice little forklift that had a bad lift cylinder hose (damaged happened unloading it at the auction) for $600... Got a roll of 3 strand 10Ga copper wire, about 300 feet for $15... Got a 100 gallon tidy tank (for the back of a pickup) for $40 that needed a seam welded.. a barrel lifting grapple for $10, that has all the different bung wrenches with it, a good working pallet jack for $40

Found a 6HP briggs engine with a large dual diaphragm pump (worth lots) at the dump... about 10 1lb cans of propane that were NEW... a *really* good cultivator, 10 ft wide, NEW at an auction for $150.. we were willing to go to $1500 for it

 

[chippie]

Do you have a picture of it? I'd love to see it

No, I am sad to say that I don't. Back then there wasn't much time to stop and take pictures. We have the memories though : )

 

[cowgirl8]

I've made a few deals... I got a 6" Record vice with stand for $40, I missed a nice little forklift that had a bad lift cylinder hose (damaged happened unloading it at the auction) for $600... Got a roll of 3 strand 10Ga copper wire, about 300 feet for $15... Got a 100 gallon tidy tank (for the back of a pickup) for $40 that needed a seam welded.. a barrel lifting grapple for $10, that has all the different bung wrenches with it, a good working pallet jack for $40

Found a 6HP briggs engine with a large dual diaphragm pump (worth lots) at the dump... about 10 1lb cans of propane that were NEW... a *really* good cultivator, 10 ft wide, NEW at an auction for $150.. we were willing to go to $1500 for it

Whoa.......gotta love those deals dont ya...

 

[rla442]

I'm always out for a good deal and do a lot of buying at estate auctions. Auctions are probably my favorite pass time.
My best buy was about 120 treated wood fence posts that were seperated into 3 piles. The posts were used but probably only used for one season. I bought them for $7.50 a pile. The auction was at a school surplus sale and I never dreamed they'd have a pile of fence posts.

Last year I bought an early Case VAC tractor that was done up like a show tractor but not running. Bought it for $500 (not a steal but a deal since it had good rubber, wheel weights and new sheetmetal). got it home and tightened the mag index so it would stay in time (that took a while to figure out why it wouldn't stay running). The only money spent on it was for the oil change and the fuel bowl gasket. Starts now on the second crank and it's now one of my favorite putting around tractor to run around the farm pulling the wagon hauling sap or wood.

Last week I bought a Cockshutt No.30 burr mill that looked like it was lost in time for $35. Super clean but stuck. Brought it home, spayed some PB Blaster on it and with a little bump on the plates its free and running. Looks brand new inside. Its going to get attached to the VAC tractor mentioned above and will be a good for the antique tractor/engine shows.

 

[dun]

An auction buy that struck me as funny was an old enamel pot with the enamel chipping off and a hole rusted in the bottom. They had thrown a 1 inch drive snap-on ratchet with a couple of extensions and a half dozen sockets in it. I paid 25 bucks for it and then the woman I had been bidding against offered me 20 bucks for just the pot. Being a sucker I just gave her the pot, saved me from throwing it away when I got home.

 

[Rafter S]

An auction buy that struck me as funny was an old enamel pot with the enamel chipping off and a hole rusted in the bottom. They had thrown a 1 inch drive snap-on ratchet with a couple of extensions and a half dozen sockets in it. I paid 25 bucks for it and then the woman I had been bidding against offered me 20 bucks for just the pot. Being a sucker I just gave her the pot, saved me from throwing it away when I got home.

I can beat that price for a 1" drive socket set. My wife and sister found a complete set in it's metal box laying beside the road where it had apparently fallen off of someone's truck.

 

[rla442]

I almost forgot about the best and once in a lifetime buy that I got at an estate auction about 10 years ago. It was a large estate sale and the reason I went was due to some civil war firearms. A large enough estate sale that they had security over the civil war guns. In the back of the house was a couple hay wagon with a lot of miscellaneous household items. In one 5-gallon bucket was a couple of long spring leg hold traps and one of those older shotgun reloaders that put the rolled crimp on the shotgun shell. While digging to the bottom of the bucket I come upon a Harpers Ferry 1811 complete lock assembly...flint, screw and all for an early US Harpers Ferry flintlock pistol. I waited and paced for hours waiting for the auctioneer to get to this haywagon, all the while watching to make sure it didnt "disappear". long story short--I eventually bought the bucket for $5, while walking to the truck a guy offers me $5 for the shotgun roll crimper and I sold it to him and took my lock and traps home.
I took this Harper Ferry flintlock up to the Springfield Armory Museum on one of my trips and had them look it over to ensure it was legit because the lock is perfect with the carbon still intact from when it was carbon blued. That's where I found out my deal was even better and that not only was the lock a legit 1811 Harpers Ferry but it was also for a pistol which very few were made. The lock will eventually be donated to either Harpers Ferry or Springfield.