![\"auction_gavel\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mommyramblings.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/auction_gavel.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nDo you go to Auctions? \u00a0I used to go a lot and I had to stop because I was becoming addicted. \u00a0I had not been to an auction in about 9 or 10 years until today. \u00a0I don’t know what possessed me to go but somewhere, searching something, a few weeks ago, I came\u00a0across\u00a0a site called AuctionZip. \u00a0This site lets you put in your zip code and do a search in distance of all the upcoming auctions. \u00a0Many have picture galleries and I accidentally clicked on one that occurred in December, that had all the Madame Alexander baby dolls brand new from the late 70s. \u00a0I was so mad I missed that, it took a couple of days for me to come to terms with it. \u00a0Anyway, I saw one for this afternoon about an hour and a half north of me. \u00a0Now, if I live in God’s country then an hour and a half north of me is really God’s country. \u00a0I think the competition in auctions is much worse the closer to the city you go, so I prefer to go up north or out into the country of\u00a0Pennsylvania\u00a0 \u00a0However, it is getting harder and harder to find\u00a0anyone\u00a0that\u00a0does\u00a0not know how much something goes for on\u00a0eBay,\u00a0and hence harder to find a good deal.<\/p>\n
I\u00a0remember\u00a010 years ago sitting in a small town auction with two older ladies behind me, they had to be in their 70s and as a piece of either pottery or depression glass came up, I heard them whispering what the piece was going for on\u00a0eBay\u00a0 \u00a0It was then I realized the days of the past are over. \u00a0I can remember when we came to our house upstate in the summer as a young child, my mother got the auction bug. I was very young but clearly remember attending auctions with her in a huge barn in the next town. \u00a0My mother came home with some great finds, like a rickshaw, lots of antique furniture, and more. \u00a0I always remember\u00a0after\u00a0they\u00a0auctioned the furniture, they would auction livestock and I\u00a0always\u00a0wondered why we could not get some livestock.<\/p>\n
What I am struck with the most is so many of the things that are sought after are things my parents had. \u00a0Things that my siblings mostly disposed of in a dumpster (after they died) which really upsets me to this day. \u00a0At least if it had been given away, but my family and I were on vacation when they did this clean out and if I think about it too much I get violently ill. \u00a0So I guess part of me sees some of this stuff and thinks, “Wow, my parents had those tea cups, or those Christmas\u00a0ornaments from the 1940s etc.” \u00a0 Maybe I am trying to get a little piece of what they\u00a0eradicated\u00a0and hang on to a bit of nostalgia without being a\u00a0hoarder.<\/p>\n
So back to the present, upon getting to the auction site today the street was full of cars even though it was a large building in the middle of farm country. \u00a0I saw licence plates from Ohio and since they were going to be auctioning coins for\u00a0the\u00a0first\u00a01\/2 hour I wanted to think they came for that. It was packed to capacity when I walked in but as they finished the coins some of the collectors\u00a0left\u00a0and a few seats opened up. \u00a0You could see the hardcore coin collectors with their print out of coins and the same two or three bidders taking everything of value. \u00a0They\u00a0undoubtedly\u00a0would sell the coins separately on\u00a0eBay\u00a0and they knew their prices.<\/p>\n
Now, I was not their to buy a lot of junk as I am trying to simplify my life, but I did have a few projects in mind. \u00a0I was lucky the other week to find an antique vanity (much like one my mother had) and an antique desk on Craigslist for a song. \u00a0I plan to paint the vanity a bright color and use it in a craft room I am planning for my new sewing machine. \u00a0So I saw a few other things I would like to try my hand at painting etc. \u00a0Last night I made a list of what I wanted, and then did a search online about what they were worth. \u00a0When they got to the first thing I wanted, which was what I thought was a child’s youth chair with a pressed back as shown below, I was taken back when the auctioneer said that it did not have the tray and that the owners are going to go and look for it. I don’t know why, but it just made me think I had been wrong or they were wrong, and in the time I was pondering this, the bidding had started, it was up to $25, $27.50, $29, and I just could not bid, not sure why, but I just\u00a0couldn’t\u00a0 \u00a0So it went for $30 or $32 and I was not too upset about not getting it. \u00a0Next thing on my list to come up was a wicker child’s rocker, \u00a0It just needed some fresh paint and a new cushion. \u00a0Well again the bidding started up and the woman behind me started bidding, and it went for $22 or $24 and I had not bid.<\/p>\n
<\/a>This is the chair that I thought was a youth chair and next to it the one that went for $5.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>The wicker rocker that went for $22 or $24.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>The Tin Noisemakers<\/p><\/div>\n
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<\/a>The three chairs I won.<\/p><\/div>\n
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By this time I was wondering what was wrong with me, my search last night told me a chair like that was worth at least $49 but I still could not bid. \u00a0So the other little chair I liked came up, I had thought about painting it a nice bright color but it came up so fast and the bid was $5 and it stopped, just as I was ready to bid, it was sold for $5 and that really made me mad. \u00a0I do not know whether I just did not feel it, but I just could not bid. \u00a0So now I sat and thought to myself, what had I come here for<\/em>? \u00a0Nearly everything on my list was gone and I had not even bid. \u00a0Next were some tin noise makers, we had the same ones when I was a kid and I know I have a few from when my oldest kids where young somewhere. \u00a0I thought they were cute and that I would be willing to go to maybe $10. \u00a0However, it seems others thought they were cute too and \u00a0were quickly bid up to $17 or so and I just did not find it worth it, so I passed. \u00a0Next was a set of about 18 character glasses. \u00a0 I was willing to go to like $17 maybe $20 but the bidding went up again and after $24, I lost interest and did not feel it was worth it.<\/p>\n So I know I sound like a dud, \u00a0but I tell you, I used to be addicted to auctions and would find no problem bidding until I was the highest bidder on what I wanted and soon had a garage full of stuff I did not really need. \u00a0After giving it all away several years ago, I have decided I only want what I indeed love, so I think I am being really good and can tell you there were a few in the crowd that I think may benefit from learning to simplify. \u00a0They had some new lots of stuff and the first thing I actually bought were some small LED flashlights\u00a0for\u00a0my little guys, they love flashlights. \u00a0Then the last thing on my list came up, three\u00a0little \u00a0ladder\u00a0back chairs that \u00a0had perfect rush seats and I thought would make a great project with each painted a different primary color. \u00a0The bidding started and I was right in this time and guess what? \u00a0I won all 3 for $40 which comes to a little over $13 a chair and I think was a good deal. \u00a0That’s all I bought \u00a0and I can tell you I did not feel that itch that I had to go to another. \u00a0I did see some kind of antique ceiling fan that came out of bar that I truthfully would not give you $5 for go for over $3000, that was fun to watch. \u00a0The guy in front of me was bidding like crazy and I wanted to ask him how much it was worth but he left when he lost. \u00a0Another tiny, rusty bird cage when for $50 and the auctioneer said it was going for $600 on\u00a0eBay,\u00a0I would not give $3 for it.<\/p>\n