One Man's Guide to Florida Auctioneers
This page is a distillation of my experiences with various
Florida and other auctioneers. The opinions expressed are solely my own; If
anybody wants to go to court over em....I'll gladly swear to them and the incidents
mentioned.
Also at the bottom of the page are some GOOD experiences with
shipping companies in Cincinnati and Chicago!
I attend as many auctions per week as I have the money to bid
at....I buy items and re-sell them on ebay. I am of course looking for the best
value...
Kudos:
DM Dennet, Orlando, FL My absolute favorite auctioneer for quality,
professionalism, and SPEED. My only complaint is the man must be scared of computers.....no
web site...no pix...however the office/checkout/registration is very well run!
Cliff Shuler, Titusville,
FL....Cliff is unique, entertaining, and professional. He does have one quirk
that means you need two or three people to attend his auctions. He puts small
items into groups and auctions choice lot of that group....you can pick as many
lots as you choose at that price...Trouble is he is also running larger items
at the same time....several times have been picking lots and missed a larger
item. Consistently make money on his auctions.
Karlin Daniels, Stuart,
FL...sometimes I make money here...sometimes I don't....checkout is fair.
Astor Auctions Astor
Florida. Well done and they unfortunately have a great mailing list. Expect
to pay retail.
GovDeals auctioneers...
City of St Petersburg...Very very Honest in stating item condition.
Very helpful in arrangements to pickup etc
Hillsborough County School Board...Great People to deal with
South Florida Water Management District...ditto
The Middle Ground......have some problems with them but.......if
the auction looks good attend
Stampler Auctions Hollywood,
FL Have made a lot of money from these people....however a couple of things....they
are not computerized on site and after auction is slow and unorganized. Have
been known to take the sheets to their office to print out and then bring back
2 hrs later. Their security is not good.....have seen $10k items walk BEFORE
THE AUCTION STARTED. Also is kind of slow. Checkout and removal is one person
at a time which can be very very slow.
RANTS.....I STRONGLY advise against
doing business with these firms
1. Daley-Hodkin Corporation
I just attended an auction in Boca Raton Oct 2nd 07...and this is an auction
that will go down as one of the absolute worst ever. From end to end it was
a disaster, both from a buyer standpoint and the poor bank who hired this firm
to hold the auction. Rude and pushy assistants, a bungling incompetent auctioneer
who was arguing with his own floor people over the descriptions of items, incorrect
list he was auctioning from.....Whoever did their research had wildly inflated
ideas of what things were worth and would not accept low, realistic bids in
spite of this being an absolute auction. EXTREMELY SLOW! 5 hours for 200 items
and a lot were passed. Persisted in allowing nickle and dime bidding....takes
a long time to get to 1000 at $5 a bid. Finally left at about 4:00p.....figured
I would skip the initial rush at the office .....came in at 10am next am...had
to wait an hour and 45 minutes in line to pay my bill.....and there were only
two people in front of me. Mind you this is just to pay for my purchases....not
to collect them. There was another substantial delay in getting a checker so
you could get your items.
Now it gets even worse. I had purchased the contents of a room...mostly to
get the contents of a parts cabinet. During discussions prior to checkout...one
of the auctioneers assistants let it slip that they had given access to the
room to another bidder and let him remove a piece of software from this cabinet.
When I threatened to call the cops....they magically decided that the contents
of that room did not include the contents of that cabinet.
At this point I just walked. I have definitely learned my lesson:
THESE GUYS ARE THIEVES!
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2. Test Equipment Connection / DoveBid
Generally Dove Bid is OK if a little expensive
on fees. Checkout/payment/etc leaves a bit to be desired. Test Equipment Connection
auctions items in some of their "Exchange Auctions". Since this doesn't
show who they are....the clue is the item location is in Lake Mary FL. Items
have minimum bids, preview on-line only. You would think that they would at
least be honest in their listings if you can't preview them. You would at least
expect the item to power up ok under these circumstances, especially since this
is their business. Have gotten one DOA and one missing a part that was shown
in the picture.
3.
Dave Newman Online/ Cooper
Specialty Salvage...for the boat sales after the hurricanes....He
wants you to pay him $100 to attend his auction. He will credit you IF AND ONLY
IF YOU BUY SOMETHING...but I doubt some of the boats will even sell for $100.
4.
Moecker Auctions Fort Lauderdale FL. In the interests of keeping
this a "G" rated page....I cant really express my opinion in the way
I would like. The closest I can come is 'J*CKA*S' First the personality of the
principle is generally agreed to be obnoxious. For instance they were having
computer problems after one auction....I fixed the problem for them....kidded
the principal that he should give me a cut on the buyers premium....and he got
very nasty....luckily a few minutes later (thankfully after I had checked out)
they had another computer problem. Their after auction processing is godawful.
Slow, understaffed, and unorganized......like...come back tomorrow....come back
in two hours and lock you out in the rain.....And in many cases...even though
they will agree to let you pick up items after the auction...they will change
their mind and say come back tomorrow(and this is after driving 200 miles to
their auction).
Grahm Auctions. hmmm all of a sudden their web site isn't up......http://www.grahamauctioncompany.com....Let
me tell you a little story....I attended one of their auctions...and Iprobably
made more money from this one auction than any other I have ever attended.....however....I
purchased one item subject to confirmation....(and there was a person on site
that could confirm...after auction completed)....and they rejected the bid.
No Problem. But what happened next was that this auctioneer's personnel went
out soliciting offers from other people....before they told me that my offer
was rejected.....now from talking around...what they did wasn't illegal....but
to me it was definitely unethical. Also surly unorganized office personnel.
Government Liquidations
First as I am dealing mostly with Florida Auctioneers here I
will deal with the Jacksonville Branch. You really wonder how these people can
stay in business. YOU ARE WASTING YOUR MONEY IF YOU PURCHASE FROM THIS SELLER
UNLESS YOU GET LUCKY. From outright Fraud...Taking a picture of an item from
the ONLY angle that hid the fact that a crucial part was missing to incorrect
descriptions...describing a Teac Tape deck as a Nakamichi.....to the generally
poor attitude toward materials being sold....a recent purchase had water standing
around screws....while there saw a box of spectrum analyzers worth 3-10k ea
sitting out in the rain...Also while other branches have been showing that some
of the more expensive equipment is at least operational (scope traces on spectrum
analyzers, etc) they dont. I sent the head office an email asking whether the
legal contract was for their description or their manifest.....was told neither....if
you dont inspect it you are essentially bidding on whatever they decide to give
you. Be Forewarned. GENERALLY EQUIPMENT PURCHASED FROM THE JACKSONVILLE BRANCH
IS IN MUCH POORER CONDITION THAN OTHER BRANCHES. I have been impressed with
the quality of the service and equipment purchased from Eglin AFB however.
!!!AND MORE KUDOS!!!!!!
Windy City Pack and Ship 1100 W Cermak
Rd Chicago, Ill 312-491-0337
Though not in Florida, My recent experience
with them was way beyond expectations. Being in the auction business you are
accustomed to getting raped by the rigging / pick-up / delivery / packaging
companies. In all fairness some of them are being charged by the auctioneer
for the privilege of soliciting customers at the auctioneer's sale. Recently
I bought a lot of items in downtown Chicago. When i got there you can imagine
the nightmare of trying to park a full size pickup there much less try to get
into a very busy loading dock. Deciding to try anything...I got a quote from
Windy City to move my items to their warehouse where i could then transfer them
to my truck. They were much more than fair!! Helpful, affordable, and genuinely
nice people that went the extra mile! Thanks again guys! If you ever need any
help in the Chicago area...please call them.
Aslan Worldwide - various locations...i
dealt with 512 W Crescentville Rd, Cincinnati, OH 513-671-0671
Had to ship some Sony Professional Tape
Decks to Europe...big heavy beasties...needed em in a 108" max box. not
only did they fabricate the boxes from scratch...and foamed in place the decks
(which arrived in pristine condition) Their prices were VERY VERY REASONABLE.
Have since talked to them several times about picking up auction items and their
rates are unbelievably low!!!!!!!!!!!