Government Auctions - Great Buys!
Government auctions. We have all heard fantastic stories of how people are getting these great buys like those in the photos above. Most of the stories you hear are true. However, there are some pitfalls too. You have to be ready to except that the deal you made might not be so good sometimes. The answer is yes! Items such as boats, fancy cars, and rolex watches have been known to go up for auction. Those are the items that are seized from drug operations and tax evasion cases. No, not all but there are plenty of good boats and automobiles up for auction that are in everybody's price range. For instance, when bidding on automobiles at government sites, most if not all, will not let you drive them. You are allowed to start them up,listen to the engine, and inspect them inside and out. A friend and I attended our first government auction many years ago. It was a Department of Defense auction on one of the air force bases in Oklahoma. Not having much knowledge on these types of auctions we did make some mistakes, however as a whole things came out alright. All the autos were lined up outside in a field with lot numbers taped to the windshield of each. My friend and I went our separate ways looking for what we might want to bid on. At this particular auction, the auctioneer went over each lot number one at a time. If you wanted to bid you wrote your bidders number and your bid down on a piece of paper and handed it to the auctioneer. He then found the one with the highest bid and that person bought the vehicle. My friend got the bid on a jeep for $240.00 and I got the winning bid on a small chevy car for $600.00. We paid out and then tried to see how we were going to get them home. We took cash with us because cash or a bank letter was what this auction had to have. Always know your payment options before you go to an auction.
I'll admit I kind of laughed at that one because my vehicle ran like a dream and I drove it home to Texas. My friend called his friend with a trailer and had him come pick him up. The lesson we learned is don't go without a trailer and be sure you are bidding on the right lot! The jeep finally got sold a few months later for what he had paid for it. The little chevy car was sold the next week for double what I paid for it, and back in the 80's that was good money. There are so many types of government auctions, such as police sales, marshall sales, IRS seizures and more, but today I want to introduce you to the US government official web portal. Most of your legwork and bidding can now be done online!
On the front page of USA.GOV you will see a section at the top in a light blue box that says"Get It Done Online". In this section you will find the "Shop Government Auctions". Clicking on this will take you to government Sales and Auctions where you can go into the Federal Surplus and seized property sales, or the State and local surplus property sales. If you have any questions that you can't find the answer to on their website you can email them or call them at 1-800-333-4636. When buying from the government you must be willing to drive to the auction to inspect and remove the merchandise or pay someone in the area to do the legwork and pickup for you. There are auctions closer to home if you are willing to do the research yourself.You can start by contacting your local,county, and state agencies in your area and ask if they have auctions and if so where can you get a schedule. All the government agencies do advertise in the local paper and such papers as USA today. The newspaper is really a great place to start looking for auctions. So, you say you want it a little easier, well that can be arranged too. There are some places on the web that you can subscribe to and they do the legwork for you! They charge a fee, however I think the fees are small considering the work they do for you. You can find several by searching online for government auctions and they will come up in your search. I have researched many of the sites and the one I like is only $7.95 per month or you can subscribe for whole year for just $39.95. Take a look at it and browse around on the sight. They have cars, jewlery, real estate and much more.
I love the police auction site. You can browse and bid on some of the items just for registering free, however if you want to see the better, government auctions, you will need to sign up for the monthly or annual subscription. I recommend you start off small in government auctions and attend some of your cities local sales to get the feel of things. Once you buy and sell your first car or item you will be hooked.
Government Liquidation
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