^^^THIS.

The auctioneer certainly did well from the seller's standpoint, but from a bidder's standpoint he made me far less likely to drive a long distance to attend one of his future auctions (like this one). The prices were crazy in Tulsa, but that wasn't the auctioneer's fault. When bidders get into a war over things, prices go crazy. When the auctioneer did "Choice of 5" type bidding, its done all the time in the auction business. Expect it from any auction house. There were other legit complaints though, such as the crammed space, HOT & sweaty, (no A/C) and short two-hour same-day preview. That's not NEAR enough time to evaluate dozens of potential purchases! When the machine you're interested in does come up for sale, it's surrounded by bidders, so you can't really see it unless you want to get into an ugly shoving match with other bidders.

Another issue I have is no sale order sheet was given. This is a normal way of business in the auction world. When I attend large aviation or equipment auctions, they ALWAYS provide a sale-order sheet so bidders know the order that things will be sold. Having to stand around in a hot, loud, crowd wondering whats going to sell next is no way to efficiently conduct an auction. Keep bidders comfortable, and give them a bid order list before the auction starts - small things that make a HUGE difference and greatly improve the "buying experience".

Jay, I think if you'd provide a sale order list it would make a huge difference. And with fewer machines at this auction, its even easier for you to do!

1. Jay would probably do a preview the day before if enough people asked.
2. The sale order is up to Jay - that why I want him to provide us a sale order list now so we know which order things will be sold.
3. Can't do that without a sale order list - See #2 above.
4. No beer cart at the last auction, but there were sodas, water, and snacks. May have been a flask or two in the room, who knows?

Your point is well taken, as most other auctions I attend are all-day affairs. An hour and a half is not a long auction. But as a buyer, if I'm handed a sheet of paper before the auction thats lists every machine in the sale, in order of sale, I'm going to be a much happier and calmer bidder.

That paper is also going to have your logo, phone #, website, etc on it, so its a brochure for you're company as well. People will hold onto to it after the auction, as a souvenir and a record of sale prices. Its a win-win.

Try it just this once, and then let us know how it worked. We'll do the same!

Put in line in the order you have them listed for sale.

No ruckus here, Jay! I'm trying to help you get more attendance, at least from people on this forum. And yes, with a sale order sheet I may just change my mind and attend! All the better auctions have one!

You could even put the machines into "groups", say 1-6, then sell the groups in order. Individual machines in a group would be at the auctioneer's discretion. Maybe that's easier on you but "good enough" for us buyers.

Jay, the auctioneer, doesn't charge any buyer's fees.

Here's the sale order catalog from an aviation auction this weekend - over 1000 detailed lots, published several days before the auction: http://www.starmanauctions.com/images/Estate-Shaver/catalog-shaver.pdf

Just saying, it's the way its normally done.

I'm not attending due to the lack of a sale order catalog and the "choice of 5" business. But its a long drive from Dallas. If I was local I'd probably go. I bet some of the non-playable machines will go cheap. If you know what you're up against repair-wise, you could do OK.

Prices seemed decent, but not great, maybe even overpriced, especially for many games that don't even power up?

Auction fever is real, and most people wind up bidding/offering far more than they would in a one-on-one deal! There's the "I can't go home empty-handed" motivation, also the competitive need to "win" the auction. Bidders will often bid over the limits they set for themselves before the auction. Ask me how I know these things?

Some of the best advise my pappy ever gave me was "never be emotionally attached during a negotiation" - hard advise to follow at the auction sometimes.

No doubt! I was editing my comment to add this fact while you were pointing it out!