Auctions can be a man's best friend but also your worst nightmare if you have not got the expert knowledge to know what you are buying and how much to pay you can pay over the odds and it is not gauranteed at most general auctions that the item you are buying is authentic you have to satisfy yourselfs. So let's look at the pros and cons.

Pros of buying and auctions

• You can get a bargain if there is not many people at the auction


• There is usually 400 lots and above so a lot of anticipation on what you could find


• It is dry and inside


• You can view usually the day before or the morning before on smaller auctions


• No pressure to buy it is up to you if you bid


• Catalogues are supplied at a cost at most auctions apart from the very small local one's

Downfalls of auctions

• It is well known to get auction fever where you pay over the odds for something and keep bidding just so you win it (bad mistake)



• It is great to view but remember hundreds of people after you will view as well so unless you check it just before it goes on sale there could be damage on it that was not there when you viewed it



• There is between a 10% and 20% commission charge on top of the price you bid, ie: you bid £200.00 you pay £20.00 commission then you pay 17.5% vat on top of that, in total you pay £223.50.



• If your lots you want are at the start of the auction you will have to wait until the end to collect them this can take anything from 2 to 4 hours so be prepared to wait they will not let you take them until the auction ends



• If your lots are in the middle or end you will have to sit through a few hundred lots before it gets to your turn only to find out that you can not bid high enough to win it



• Be advised do not take children into auction rooms, they have a built in auction alert they will start wiggerling then you will hear this high pitched sound that gets louder and more intense until you leave the auction room. A lot of the auction rooms are also very anti-chidren there is no room for pushchairs and you get this icy glare when they make a noise or even move



• You can go to many auctions and they will not have what you want so back in the car and back home again until the next one


Buying at Antique Fairs