One thing I always wanted to do but never tried was go to an auction. It always seemed like a thrill, being able to snag something rare or unusual at a good price, outbidding others who you know want it too.
I finally got my first taste of the life last Thursday when I went to the Concord Auction Center on Hall Street.
The auction center holds auctions every Monday and Thursday night, and they always post pictures of all of the items that will be available that night on their website, concordauctioncenter.com. They also occasionally hold other auctions, such as a farm estate that will be auctioned off Saturday featuring things like a 1957 Chevy and a pair of Kubota tractors.
Thursdays tend to be antiques and collectibles (more collectibles than bone fide antiques), so that’s the one I hit up last week.
The auction starts at 6, but the doors open at 3 so you can go in and poke around at all of the items that will be auctioned off. There are lists on the front desk detailing every item, and each item is assigned a number.
It doesn’t cost anything to attend, and you can make a whole night of it – auctions can last close to three hours, and there’s a café inside the place where you can load up on ice cream and hot dogs and other snacks to hold you over all night.
I saw a few things that caught my eye as I was browsing before the auction, so I decided to get a card, just in case.
Getting a bid card was easy. I just handed over my license so they could take my name and address, then I provided my phone number and email address and I was put into the system and given a number.
The first few items went for cheap – 10 bucks was a popular price. A couple items were a bit pricier, like a set of eight JFK half-dollars that went for $40.
After about 10 minutes, a child’s rocking chair, probably a few decades old, came up, and I thought it would be perfect for my 2-year-old daughter.
Jim Saturley, who runs the auctions, started by calling higher numbers very quickly, as though he never expected anyone to bid.
“Fifty, 25 and 15,” he said in the span of about a second. Then he called out 10, so I held up my card, No. 405. About two seconds elapsed, nobody else bid and I heard the word “sold!” And just like that, I became the proud owner of an old-school kids’ rocking chair, for $10 plus the 17 percent buyer’s premium for a grand total of $11.70. Cash buyers only have to pay a 15 percent fee, but credit cards and checks are accepted at the 17 percent rate.
A couple minutes after the adrenaline from winning my first-ever live auction bid subsided, I walked up to the front desk to pay and claim my prize. As soon as you hear “sold,” you can walk over and check out, though you can also stay and keep bidding and do it all at the end – you just have to be able to take everything with you that night.
It was an easy and fun experience, and one you should all give a shot some time.
