Furniture Auction

Last Sunday I went with my dad to a furniture auction to buy a corner lounge suite. We had already previously bought a lounge from the auction and it was a bargain. There was no reason to think why this one wasn't going to be a bargain either. The furniture at the auctions are either old season stock that shops want to get rid of, last pieces, slightly defective or display pieces in shops and houses.

I had told my friend Kin and Jo about the auction and they were also very excited after hearing about the bargains, hence they came on Sunday too to buy some stuff as well. Basially you stand around while they auction off EVERY item there. They go around the whole warehouse and you bid by raising a card with a number.

I ended up getting the corner leather 7 seater couch with 3 of the chairs reclining. It cost under $2400 after paying all the taxes and is a bargain, under half retail price. Kin and Jo bought even more things for their house. They bought a 7 piece dining table, a TV cabinet, rugs, plants, paintings. Jo's parents also bought a lounge and a 9 piece dining table. All up their purchases cost less than $3500, the price you would pay for just one lounge suite.

The funniest story from the auction was when Jo raised her number card and thought she had bought a beautiful wooden cabinet for $120. A similar piece, in fact it looked almost identical, had gone for $390 only minutes earlier. In the car ride home, my dad was saying that piece was such a bargain, and at the time the auctioneer said there were two others, which someone quickly snapped up. We were saying we should have gotten one too. Later when I rang Kin to see how it all went, he said that they had actually bid on a mountain bike, not the cabinet. This was hilarious. Obviously Kin cancelled the mountain bike order, but couldn't get the cabinet for that price. I was sure the auctioneer kept saying cabinet and also the two helpers were pointing at the cabinet and pulling the draws out and showing it off. Either it was a genuine miscommunication, or they auction placed stuffed up and weren't prepared to sell their cabinet at that price and make a huge loss. Anyway, besides that, Kin and Jo were very happy with all their purchases. I was also very pleased with my lounge and will be going back to the auction again to buy more cheap furniture.