Auctions

[Havok]

Does anyone know where and when there may be auctions in the Albany, New York area ?

[fredster]

check www.gameroommagazine.com/shows

[APFelon]

http://www.gameroommagazine.com/shows.htm

Don't forget the htm part or you'll get a 404.

APf

[Truz]

hmm, ive never been to one of these auctions but was thinking about going to the Super Auctions in Cherry Hill NJ on April 30th. What is it like at these auctions for someone new like me? I would probably be looking for a pinball machine and maybe an upright classic of some sort. You guys got any tips or is there some sort of faq on Auctions that i may have missed on here.

[NoOne=NBA=]

Yes, there are at least two "Auction tips" threads that I can remember in the last year, or so.

Try searching for "auction", and see what pops up.

[fredster]

APF - Thanks for the tip. I didn't know that.

There should be an Auction FAQ.  There was a big writeup last year.

[paigeoliver]

The best advice is to ALWAYS assume the worst. If you always assume the worst then you will have a great experience.

Always assume the auctioneer is lying about ANYTHING he says about the game. Condition, price they sold for last week, what might be wrong with the game. Only exception is that if they go out of their way to tell you something bad, then you can believe that.


Assume that the first bids on an item aren't real and wait until you see actual bidding going on. Some auctioneers love to start an item at $100 and then spot $200 and $300 "bids" and then when no actual people bid they go back down to $100 again and wait for an actual bidder. Superauctions has 3 auctioneers that I know. Rob (mid 30s, brown hair) doesn't do that much, the older guy does it for almost every game, and then there is the younger muscular guy with the dark hair, who is the most straightforward of the auctioneers, but he usually only auctions things when the main auctioneer needs a break.

Assume that the working games have intermittent problems that aren't showing up that day.
Assume that the dead games have a dead power supply, dead monitor, and dead boardset.
If a game has graphics errors or boots up to garbage you should always assume it is the boardset and not the power supply.
Assume the seller of the game is bidding against you.

And the most important one. If you win a bid on a game and then all of a sudden there is some "confusion" about a bid they didn't catch or something, then just walk away. Do not raise your winning bid. Every time this happens it is because one of the auction employees (who owns the games) or insiders signalled the auctioneer that the price wasn't high enough for their liking. When that happens you are not in a fair bidding situation, you are instead letting someone who doesn't have to pay buyback or entry fees set the price that they want you to pay.

[paigeoliver]

Oh, and to specify, will all of that happen to you? Probably not, but it can happen, and you should be expecting it to happen.