Buying Implements and  Tools at Auction 

by Lynn Miller

 Frugality and thrift are the name of the game here. If you were in the market to buy a motor vehicle and money was tight, would you waltz into the nearest dealership and hand over your wallet? No, you wouldn’t. You might go to a used car lot or two and you would doubtless look into all the local ads for people selling their own vehicles. You might even frequent an auction or two. And, if you’re patient and smart, you will find what you want and at your price. Buying the tools and implements for your farm should be just such a process.
I am of the personal opinion that nothing beats going to a whole bunch of auctions knowing exactly what you want and being prepared to be as tight as the grain in a good ax handle. It also helps to know a little about how to buy at auction or at least to have an experienced auction buyer help you. An auction purchase is not always a wise purchase. I have seen many folks pay more for an item at auction than they could have spent to buy that same gadget retail. But I have seen far more often folks buy at auction for a fraction of what the item was worth. I’ll talk a little more about auctions after this word about budgets.

Budgets with Tooth
For many of us it is difficult or impossible to keep a firm grip on a well- realized budget, especially if auctions are part of the equipment shopping.
After you have made yourself a shopping list of what you think you need to outfit your farm, do some additional research. Get yourself a 3-column ledger pad. Write on the left the name of the tool or supply, next to that write down the prevailing retail price, next to that write down a number which is approximately 30% of that retail value, and leave the last column blank. Later, after you have purchased your tool, you will fill in the exact dollar amount you paid for that in the blank column. This will be an important process for you.
Here’s a sample of what I mean:
Item                                                               retail             goal/budget            paid
Four tine pitchfork                                       $27.95                $10.00               $7.50
Fence stretcher                                           $24.95                   $8.00             $10.00
Spring tooth harrow 2 sec                         $650.00               $220.00             $45.00
Budget Total                                                                            $238.00

After you have put together your shopping list, total up the goal column. If the sum exceeds your budget, draw a line through those items on your list which you can wait for. Keep doing this until the sum coincides with your goal. (The 30% calculation is just a guideline; you may instead fill in your estimate of what you think you might pay for each item.) Now as you look for the items on your list, you can keep track of expenditures and be prepared to make adjustments in your budget. For example, if you’ve acquired several items at far less than your budget, you might choose to apply that accumulated savings to a particularly fine manure spreader that is a little more expensive than you budgeted for.
With your shopping list/budget firmly in hand, start looking in all the classified ads you can find. You’ll seldom see listed the exact items you need. Instead you may read about a farmer’s garage or moving sale. If you are able to go and check out the merchandise, don’t forget your list. And don’t forget to tighten up! If you got to a farm sale and find a battery charger for $35 and a side delivery rake for $300, measure that against your budget for those items. Are those prices within the budget? Now here’s what I mean by tight: if you have budgeted $40 for the battery charger and $250 for the rake, offer the farmer $20 for the charger. If he says yes, congratulations you’ve joined the farm economy! If he says he has to have at least $25, offer to buy the rake for $250 if he throws in the battery charger. If he says okay, you’ve saved $40! If he says he can’t do it and is unwilling to come down in price, tell him thanks and move on to the next opportunity.
If you want to save money on your budget, not only must you buy for less than your budget, but you MUST always pay less than is first asked even when it is far below your budget (with but few exceptions). This will be good practice for you when you finally attend a farm auction.

Tips for the Timid
Buying at auction can be fun, but is can also be terrifying. Here are some tips which might help.

do your homework
Especially with implements and tools; make sure you check out the item BEFORE the bidding starts. Make certain it is complete and operable. Every auction is a buyer beware situation. Many items sold at auction are incomplete or broken. You might be able to fix it later, but at least know what you are getting into.

prepare yourself for a race
 Understand the requisite tempo. It’s not always the same. Some auctions must move fast, others take lots of time. At the SFJ annual auction we have so many items to sell that we need to get through in a minute or less with most lots. That means in sixty seconds or less you will have to make a handful of definite decisions and try to influence the entire process to your advantage. If you cannot make a decision that fast, the auctioneer will cry SOLD to whoever was the last bidder and you will have lost the moment. It can be exhilarating as heck and frustrating too.

tell yourself you can live without it
 It is a kind of financial suicide to decide you MUST HAVE something that is being sold at auction because it means you will probably pay more than it’s worth and maybe more than you can afford. The contest aspect of the auction can pull you into deep waters. Whatever it is, you CAN live without it. Never hold up your hand and keep it up. It may seem like this is a way to guarantee the auctioneer sees you and knows you are serious, but it can also give an unscrupulous auctioneer the green light to run you up in the bidding. By this I mean pretend to have others bidding against you to get the price as high as possible.

pay close attention and relax
 Don’t be anxious. Watch, listen, and wait. Learn the auctioneer’s rhythm and timing. If the auctioneer seems awkward and ill at ease, thank your lucky stars because he or she is probably honest by default. If the auctioneer seems quick, poised, smooth, even slick, prepare to defend yourself even if it means embarrassment. A very few of them are unscrupulous. Remember that a tricky auctioneer will use speed and your uncertainty to his advantage. It is always safe and handy to be ready to PRETEND you are confused and misunderstood the bidding. Be ready to state this loudly and clearly as soon as there is any problem. Otherwise that slick auctioneer may have you paying a lot more for the plow than you thought you were bidding. Learn to shake your head and say in a loud firm voice “NO, that wasn’t my bid.”

patience  with your budget
 Don’t be the first one to bid on any item. Let someone else open the bidding. Sometimes it will sound as though the auctioneer actually has a bid when in fact he does not. If you want the mower he’s auctioning and your budget is $300, wait for someone to open the bidding. If the bidding opens at $300, you are not going to get that mower. If the bidding opens at $75 then goes to $100, you should be prepared to bid $125 and, after they know who you are, slow the bidding down by taking your time to bid.
It can be so darned easy to say to yourself “I was prepared to pay $50 and he’s just asking for $65, that’s not too much out of line.” And then you bid over your budget. And in a heartbeat someone bids against you and you’re up to $85. Someday, with experience and self-confidence, you might be able to bid on impulse but as a beginner it is dangerous to try it. DO NOT EXCEED your budget! In this way you may be able to buy that mower for far less than you budgeted. But remember, there will be others; you can live without that mower.

slow it down if you must
 If the process has you overwhelmed and you’re having trouble thinking or remembering, here’s a trick: ask the ringman – or the auctioneer – a question about the item you’re bidding on. Preferably a question you already know the answer to. While they are answering you, take that moment to breathe and think.

rejection can be good
It is a good thing for an auctioneer to take a bid from you and then be rejected by you on the next bid. This helps to establish you as a tightwad who is knowledgeable or at least knows what he wants and knows his limit on price.

halving the bid
Think about the progression of the bidding. If your budget is $475 for the item and the bidding is moving up at $50 increments you need to influence the progression early. When the auctioneer says “I have $250 who’ll be $300?” You need to holler out $275 or make sure you understand the accepted handsignals for “halving the bid” (usually a horizontal slashing with  the flat of the hand). Once you establish $25 as an acceptable increment, you have a chance of coming in at your budget.

proxy  bidding
If you are naturally timid or anxious about crowds, auctions may not work for you. However, for many rural folks, auctions are a way of life and you will doubtless find neighbors who relish the “battle” and will consent to bid for you. Just make sure that you write down and repeat the budget you have for the items in question.

close enough doesn’t work
Whether you are buying or selling at auction it is critically important to understand that ‘close enough’ doesn’t cut it. I know of one man who left a written bid of $400 on an item at our auction because he had to leave before the bidding. The item went for $475 and he didn’t win the bidding. He was out at $400. Over the phone he was angry and said “Geez, $475 was close enough, I would have gone that much.”

white elephants
Whether at auction or through private sale, it is not uncommon to have opportunities to bid on piles of stuff which might include something you are looking for. Fifteen years ago, I bought at auction six wooden boxes full of old nuts and bolts and miscellaneous hardware. It was about five hundred pounds and cost me $35. I chalk it up as one of the best buys I made. At the bottom of one box I found a set of antique tractor wrenches I sold for $50. Inside another box there was a new/old magneto for a Model T which I traded for two doubletrees. The remaining bolts and nuts and washers continue to serve my shop to this day. Sometimes even the five dollar piles are gold mines.

freight?
Be thinking about how you are going to get your prizes home. You might purchase some dandy big items at great prices and find you busted your budget by having to rent a truck and trailer or hauler to get the stuff home.

stay  tuned
Make the auction process work for you, not against you. Pay attention and stay alert at all times. I know one gentleman who waited four hours for the item he wanted to bid on only to lose out because it sold when he went to the outhouse.

Well there’s my little shopping list of hints. Doubtless I will think of many more after this goes to press. But I do hope these will be helpful. Maybe this little article will prompt others to add their tips and prompts. I believe in the auction process, it gets the job done for everybody. Happy auction hopping! LRM