Red, the goal is to collect as much crap as you can then DUMP it on your kids/grandkids to deal with. My grandfather is 98 and he might own a hammer and a rusty old flathead screwdriver. Consider yourself lucky, somewhere in there is some real treasures. Call those Mike and Frank off the history channel to come buy some of your shit. They were near my town recently in west Texas. http://www.antiquearchaeology.com/got_stuff.php
I'll post a link to the auction once it is ready. I'm sure we could arrange shipping, to get some treasures to texas.
Bawhaha ... same here! I bought my wife a brand new sewing machine for her birthday 25yrs ago. She had had an old school black Singer from her grandmother, and I thought she needed (like every good wife) a little better sewing machine. I think she has used it 2-3 times in those 25yrs (each time I had to show her how to use it). I blew her away when one year, I went and bought the material and sewed a Halloween costume for our daughter. I did learn quick though ... never attempted to buy her an iron or a rolling pin (she could have swung those)!!
I need to stay off auction sites...: https://www.bidspotter.com/en-us/au...0096/lot-d4cd3c42-32f3-440e-85c3-a88d01208ef6 When I signed up for the timed auction this morning this 10EE was sitting at only a mere $1100usd. With a little over an hour to go it's already doubled . Not that I need another lathe, but it would be nice to have something for the smaller stuff, and a Monarch 10EE would pair nicely with the big lathe. Being a "buyer of opportunity" I was hoping to steal this...
I was actually surprised at the lack of idiots...lol. I just finished watching the last few moments of that auction item, expecting to see some intense sniping at the end. Not a single bid change in the last 10mins. Very disappointed...
I've screwed with bidspotter a few times. The thing that always get you is that whopping 18% buyers fee!
Ive been finding good deals on facebook marketplace. Seems there is more sellers than buyers on there which works out good for me. What was the final price on the monarch? I usually see them in the 2k range...
That's not always the case though.... I have won item via bidspotter wherein the buyers fee was as low as 8%.... They need to make their money I suppose. Generally I use it to find auctions close to me. If the items warrant a visit then I make the drive. The monarch ended at $2400usd. I went as far as to register for the auction but didn't make a bid. Only a single pic and couldn't see if it came with a taper attachment. Deal breaker for me. Unless of course could have had it for the $1100 starting bid...lol
My issue with the bidspotter auctions has been the ones near me want a rigging company to move the units out of the plants. That seems to double the cost on things like Bridgeports, and smaller lathes. I'd gladly pay the 10%-15% if I could just load it myself ...I have a dolly and an engine hoist ....ok I'll bring some old pipes too. CBB
Again... The weird thing about this particular auction was there was no rigging fees and the GM was available to load machines... Taken from the auction page: "REMOVAL: Is per GM schedule, FOB Truck. GM will load at no cost. " Last time I won a machine (Myford Super7) via bidspotter there was a ton of drama with me picking the machine up myself without a rigger and insurance. For those not familiar, the Super 7 is a rather small hobbist lathe, and can be moved rather easily with a hand truck. Anyways, because it was still connected to power (shut off) and it was a point of more drama. I showed them my trade cert so I could "legally" disconnect it. That mushroomed into them thinking I was working for a company to pick up the machine. They asked if my employer had insurance. I replied with "of course they do", and that was enough for me to slip through the cracks before they brought over more half dumb management to question whether I should be moving the machine or not. I ended up grabbing a pair of side cutters. Sniping the 14/3 BX cables that fed the machine. Threw my hand dolly under the machine, strapped it in place, and proceeded to walk out the door....lol. While finding the closest exit, every time it looked like my path was going to cross someone I made a turn. Had a small group following me until I reached the outside of the building...
buyers fee, sales tax and tack on a rigger... and we haven't even shipped the damn thing yet. I' d have 4k tied up in that old machine just to get it to Texas. I rarely mess with auctions anymore, last few I've driven to have been a bust.
I've done well, but I generally have a tight grip on my wallet and even more so when I haven't been able to view the item in person. Usually I'm more about trying to tool up then buy machines though.