govauctions's DiaryLand diary

Just this morning I attending my first government auction that literally took my breath away, so much that I couldn't wait to get into the office to share with everyone. I've heard many great things about government auctions but have never attended one personally. I will definitely attend more and bring even greater detail to you about future ones and the benefits that you can take advantage of. Knowing as little as I did about government auctions I was surprised to hear from everyone at our offices that they have never heard of a government auction closing early because there were not enough participants. With that said... At this auction the early bird truly did get the worm, it closed after only one hour of bidding.

The vast amounts of seized bulk property was hard to comprehend ( A link to a pdf file of the items that were to be made available is below). The many different types of items made it ideal for resellers because not everyone was interested in all the items. For instance somebody owning an electronics store was not necessarily interested in 2 pallets of miscellaneous handicrafts.

Many Items were going to go up for auction by picture only because they were stored at other locations as you can see on the linked pdf. These could be taken advantage of if your not one of those touchy-feely persons like most people including myself are, it's just another example of an excellent opportunity.

There were some individual items, small lots, cartons, multiple cartons, pallets and even multiple pallets of new and used merchandise. There were statues, textiles, furniture, electronics, books, and a virtual smorgasbord of other miscellaneous items.

There was one vehicle available that I saw it was a 1987 Mercedes-Benz 560 SEL that looked in excellent condition aside from a dead battery, some minor bodywork and in need of a hood ornament. Someone had told me that it sold for $3,000 I'll confirm that with the government agency that hosted this auction and get back with you. I checked a used car dealer price at Kelly Blue Book and the same model and year vehicle although with 30,000 less miles was available for $6,988. That would be $12.00 less than a $4,000 dollar savings less mileage and the minor work that it needed if it did in fact go for $3,000. All-in-All I found that not only do government auctions offer excellent resale potential, I also found in this particular case that not many people are taking full advantage of this resource.

Perhaps it was the holiday season that was the culprit for the low turnout or maybe because it was early Thursday morning or a combination of the two, that I couldn't tell you. What I can say is that given the amount of inventory that needed to be auctioned compared to the amount of people that I saw, This auction could have easily accommodated another 50-100 or so bidders and everyone could have left with some kind of nice deal.

9:04 a.m. - 2006-12-05
A Step-by-Step Guide To Embedding Video Into Your Auctions For Free
In some instances video can enhance your auctions. Sometimes it's the only way to truly represent your item, for instance a dancing doll or Remote Controlled Items and other products that move. Although vehicles don't have to be moving to display them they can certainly appear to be more attractive in motion, additionally you can video the interior.

I would rather have a walk through a home on video than to just see it in still pictures.

Aside from moving items you might even consider presenting your item for auction using video adding a personal touch.

The only real negative to video is dialup users but the trade off could be well worth it.

There are many services available online that will charge you if you like but we'll discuss how easy you can do by yourself for free.

1.Create Your Video
First you'll need to create your video using a video camera. There are many techniques for this but with a little practice you shouldn't have any problems producing quality videos on your own.

2.Edit Your Video
Almost all video cameras come with some type of editing software and you may have it already installed on your computer. To transfer the video from from your camera to your computer use the owners manual that came with your camera.

Once you've completed your video you'll need to save it in a format that is compatible with web broadcasting such as AVI, MPEG, Real or Windows Media, here at PoliceAuctions.com we use Quicktime. When your saving your video be sure not to make it too large as this will result in slow downloads for your viewer.

3.Upload Your Video to a Host
As mentioned previously there are many companies that will to charge you for hosting. But we'll use Google for a couple reasons, #1 it's free, and #2 that's what we use here at PoliceAuctions.com.

From your web browser go to video.google.com and look for the link that says “Upload your videos” and click on it. You will now have the ability to Browse your computer for your video file, Add a Title, Description, Lanquage, etc... Once all your information is complete and your video file selected click on“Upload Video”

4.Create and Embed the code
Creating the embedding code is simple because google does this for you, just click “Embed Code”. Once the code is generated simply copy and paste the code into your website or auction.

Be sure that you check to see that everything is working correctly because all code is not compatible with all websites. Good Luck and happy producing!!!

5:27 p.m. - 2006-11-27
Attending Previews
Attending previews for auction success...

5:24 p.m. - 2006-11-27
Discovering Wholesale Markets
Discovering wholesale markets can save you big!

12:56 p.m. - 2006-11-14
Ebay Radio Interview
We're gonna kick in gear and get you up-to-date on all the happenings at PoliceAuctions.com... Get the updates to what's up on government Auctions and more, Just ask... For now check out the interview with CEO Bill Keck on Ebay Radio! Get great deals on wheels and more at PoliceAuctions.com