[TheForge] Thanks for the tip

[Cindy and James]

The other day someone posted a reply to someone who was asking about 
getting started, needing tools, etc. and gave a link to a CRG auction in 
Lynn, MA.  I looked and found some items I had been "looking" to find 
for quite some time and was the successful bidder.

I went through the hassle of getting signed up for the online auction 
and the auction went very well.  This is the 4th internet auction I have 
participated in and bid/bought things in 2 of them.  Some work 
differently than others, but it is still an auction.

You are bidding based on a picture and what else you can find out, if 
anything, from the auction company about the item(s).  Some are more 
helpful than others in providing information.  There is the usual buyers 
premium for being online, 15% in this case.

The biggest problem I have found is shipping (if you don't attend in 
person).  You have to find someone at the site to handle getting your 
stuff together for you (negotiate a handling fee) and seeing that it 
gets shipped.  Sometimes you have to arrange for a freight carrier 
yourself if the auction folks don't/won't do that (sometimes they 
will).  If I were giving advice to anyone interested in bidding in an 
online auction, it would be to make SURE that you have the shipping part 
taken care of BEFORE the auction.  Some auctions will have a "drop dead 
date" by which things must be removed,   Again, ASK QUESTIONS.  They may 
allow some tolerance on that, they may not.

If they charge tax and you have a tax exemption certificate in your home 
state you can use that to your advantage (some don't charge out of state 
folks tax and some do).  Read the fine print in the auction company's 
terms and conditions.  If you have questions, call and ask.

The few auctions I have been interested in use Bidspotter to publish (if 
that is a good term) the auction live on the internet and you can see 
the item and listen to everything live.  So far I have been pleased.

All the above said, if you are looking for something that you can 
commonly find everyday around home, the internet auction probably isn't 
a good idea.  Drills, grinders, etc. are everywhere.  If you are close 
enough to attend in person that may be different.  For the odd items 
that you simply cannot find or other specialty tools - and if the price 
works out to be reasonable considering all associated costs - perhaps 
the internet auction will interest you.  I certainly could not drive to 
Mass. from Texas for what it cost me to buy the items and ship them to me.

Oh, I saw (and passed up) a #2 Hossfeld with some tooling, I think it 
was mostly pipe bending dies, sell yesterday for $325. (I've already got 
2 of them.)

James