Anyone Have Experience with Auctions ?

[Jetexas]

A couple of my friends here in Houston work for this salvage company, and they're usually selling truckloads of damp clothes or leftover oilfield pipe, but this morning one of them sent me this link.

34m Camper and Nicholsons 1952 Aries - Yacht

Anyone know this boat and has anyone ever done one of these auctions before? I'm pretty sure I still wouldn't be able to afford it, but she is gorgeous.

[Puddlefish]

Anyone want to go halfsies with me on it? ... and by halfsies, I mean pay for the whole thing, hire a crew and let me lounge about on it?

My experience with auctions is that most items sell for pretty much what they're worth on the open market. Professional investors show up, and will try to buy low if they have a buyer in mind already. It wouldn't even surprise me if the prior owner who lost it shows up and tries to put a bid in under a new corporate name/group.

[CSY Man]

Even if you got it for free, maintenance and crew cost would be horrendous....Just say no.

[sandy daugherty]

That is multimillion dollar vessel. Maintenence and crew will run at least $250,000 a year, probably more. Were you thinking they would let it go for chump change in an auction? Not even the government is THAT silly!

[Minggat]

I used to make a living off of auctions. By that I mean, buy low, sell high.

In bad times it was heartbreaking to see what was going for peanuts, but I had to restrain myself from buying everything I had the ability to buy because no matter how cheap it might be, I would be risking that I would have a hard time selling because, well... nobody had any money to buy from me (or they were holding onto their money, just like me).

In good times I had to walk away because I was competing with end users. And they were driving the prices up to retain and beyond.

I dealt in commercial vehicles, not in consumer products.

When I had my most success was when I was competing with other resellers of course. And the prices would run around "worst case scenarios". My parentheses are there because the other buyers were looking at the items as though they had to replace an engine. If you didn't have to replace an engine, you win. If you do, you may or may not still make money, which to say that you were risk taking. I was pretty good at it.

Having said all that, the bottom line is, you have to really know the MARKET value of what you're buying. Not so much the value to you. DON'T FALL IN LOVE WITH IT. It will only break your heart/bank account.

Looking at the boat, I'm willing to guess it will go for below value. But I would echo what CYS Mans says. If you're a high roller with money to enjoy what you might pick up cheap, then play the game. If you're a low baller wannabe...... I dunno.

The above is the opinon of . . . some guy you will never find. It's worth just what you paid for it.