Sally Ann Auctions - Fjords & Firths

I don’t know if you have been or even have heard of the Salvation Army auctions but we went to a couple last night. One in Guelph and another one in Kitchener. The auctions were kind of sad. You really can’t compare them to, say, Christie’s or Sotheby’s auctions. In Guelph, there were only, like, half a dozen people (including Troy and me) coming to the auctions and in Kitchener, we were about the only ones. It probably wasn’t good for the Salvation Army, but it was good for us because we got all the stuff we wanted for relatively low prices.

In Guelph, we’d had our eyes on this HUGE Russian telephoto lens for a month or so. We were the second to bid for it, but unlike the other bidder, we made it to the live auction. That made us the auction winner. In Kitchener, we hadn’t even previously bid for the item. There were a couple of other bidders on the list but, once again, we were the only one who made it to the auction at the time so they just added $5 into the last bid and we won a solid, old Canon FTb camera with a couple of lenses and filters and case. All in all, we won some $300-$400 worth of goods for less than $100.

If you’re interested in any of the stuff you see on auction at one of the Salvation Army branches, it’s definitely worth going to the live auction. That is, assuming that only a few bidders would actually show up. And unlike eBay, you wouldn’t have to worry about the crazy shipping and handling fees some people seem to charge if you won the auction. It’s good time, baby! 🙂

4 comments

It kind of makes you wonder why they aren’t turning to eBay to maximize the $$$ they can get for their auction goods. For charitable organizations like this, you’d think that getting the most money possible would be pretty important.
Of course, perhaps the labor involved in eBay auctions would eat up any monetary gains, but it still seem curious.