Auction Road Trip

• Auction Road Trip!
  
  The alarm went off at 5:00 am. Up and out we go!
  
  Many customers ask “where do you get all this great stuff?” I always reply, we have to go find it. We purchase at household sales, we purchase from people who call or walk in with items they no longer want, and we go to lots of auctions! Sunday we took a 2 hr. drive south through the Finger Lakes wine country to Candor, NY. Our destination: Bostwick Auctions & Gallery. They hold an antique auction on the 1st Sunday of every month. We arrived just a couple minutes after 8:00, had to wait in line to get our bidding number and then started looking through all the merchandise. What a selection they had! The auctions started around 9:15, and I did say auctions, they start the day with 2 auctions. One outside, it was only about 20 degrees and snowing that morning, and one inside. I enjoy the inside auction of hundreds of box lots, Bob was the lucky one who had to be outside until shortly after noon! He did step in a couple of times to get warm and take my goodies to the truck! When they are done with the so called projects from the barn outside, the auction continues inside for the remainder of the day. We called it a day around 5:00, and they still had stuff to sell!
  
  Tips to have an enjoyable auction experience:
  
  Ø Come prepared to spend many entertaining hours
  Ø Bring a chair, sometimes they are not provided
  Ø Have proper identification so you can get a bidding number
  Ø Know the terms of sale, some auctions don’t accept charge cards
  Ø Arrive at least one hour prior to starting time. Items are sold in as is condition. You must preview and know what you are purchasing. I always take notes, and mark a price range on my card so I know what I am willing to pay. The auctioneer will sell items very quickly so you need to be prepared to put your card in the air if you want the item.
  Ø Pay attention: the auctioneer may sell 6 chairs for 6 times the money. That means if you pay $100.00 that is for each chair! You will be charged $600.00 for the set.
  Ø One more important note, if you go to Bostwick’s go hungry, the food is fantastic!
  
  Until next time: The Brick House Blogger!