Monday, April 28, 2014

Auction Score

Ronnie and I LOVE going to auctions! We have gotten some junk at some, but we have also gotten some great deals. We used to go to a couple every month (during the warm months), but with less (NO) disposable income, we don't go much anymore.

After my 5k Saturday morning, Ronnie mentioned that there was an auction on the way home that he would like to stop by. We didn't have any kids to wrangle, so I thought it would be fun to hang out for a few minutes.

We scoped out the goods from afar while we chatted with some people that we know, joking that we were going to bid and have to use someone else's number. An item came up that I would have loved, but I couldn't justify spending as much as it went for so I was okay. Around that time I saw something that caught my interest, so I got Ronnie to come investigate with me.

I guess it shows how country I am that the item that peaked my interest was an incubator to hatch eggs. I've been wanting a small one (my dad offered to let me use his, but it's huge) that has the windows on top for observation so that the boys could learn about how chickens get here. Unfortunately, I priced them last year and soon realized that even the styrofoam ones were too much for our budget. I dismissed the idea, other than a few times that I searched craigslist and came up empty handed.

The large "INCUBATOR" on the side of the cardboard box caught my attention and when we went to look at it, realized that it was being sold with an automatic turner as well. I couldn't have cared less about that because I always thought it was fun to rotate the eggs when I was a little girl. It was settled, I wanted this thing. So we got our own number.

Here's the thing: I'm competitive. I love the adrenaline when I'm bidding on an item. My heart starts racing when I see an item getting ready to come up that I want. It takes all I have to not raise my card before the price gets low enough for me. (I want the item, but I want the best price I can get!) When they finally auctioned the incubator they started with a $20 bid. No way! I know it's worth that, but I'm not starting there. No one else bid until it got down to $5 or $10, but once they bid, it was game on! I had set a limit in my head of $20, but we passed that and the other person was still bidding, so I kept bidding too! I wanted that incubator! The other person bid $30 and then it came to me for $32.50. Yup! I want it! Would the other person bid $35? How high was I really willing to go? I don't know! All I know is that I wanted that thing! Thankfully, the other person said no, $35 was too much for them. Yay for me!

I knew I had gotten a good deal, but I always have to check to find out how good it really is. A quick search shows me that the incubator sells for $45-$55 by itself while the turner runs $40-$50 on average, but I saw them as high as $135 for both items together. Score!

I also got a couple of other items I look forward to sharing with you. Do you go to auctions? Have you scored a great deal?

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