[Roxy]

Massive farm - 350 acres.  3 houses on the site, and massive outbuildings to die for.  Tenants retiring, farm re let.......not that  would like to pat £900 a week for it!!!  Nice day, so a good turnout of people.  OH thought he may bid for something, but at most of these sales nowadays, they want ID with you address on.  Oh dear, he had gone in his 4x4 and left ID in van at home.  Now, he is always on about me having a large handbag stuffed with everything - but he looked hopefully at me and asked if I had any ID?  Up ended the large bag onto the seat ......oh, the stuff which fell out, much to his horror, on his nice seats   But, yes, I found something that would suffice, so my large bag does come in handy at times!!

After all that,we did not buy a thing (which for me at a farm sale is most unusual)  Everything seemed to make big money - galv hay racks £31, missed out on milk sieve and ladles I was after, then the electric fencer energisers which went for a lot.  John Deere tractors made £35,000 and there was two.  The other tractors M Fergusons made a lot too.  Big livestock trailer in good order, spotless it was, went for just over £2,000, which was not bad for what it was.
OH was bidding on a Landrover, but that got to £4,600 and then there was VAT on it.

What I did notice was the farmer had all the manuals, instructions etc, tied on all the machines and implements etc.....wrapped in plastic bags.  most unusual, but appreciated I am sure by the buyer.

[Hermit]

I love a good croft sale but alas they are no more as the new auctioneers want everything taking to them, no atmosphere. The same folk turned up to most croft sales including one lady that used to buy all she could to sell on ebay. We knicnamed her slasher Sacha (she was called Sacha) cause she was greedy with it. It was manners to buy only what you needed, not two or three of everything , to give other folk a chance of getting what they were after as well. My OH loved to buy boxes of stuff for a pound and then see what he had bought!My best buys were a stack of fantastic gardening books for a couple of quid and a set of gardening tools for a pound! My killer buy was a Cranberry glass oil lamp for a hundred quid. Boy did I fight for that , the Auctioneer called me the lady with the lamp from then on.

[Roxy]

 ;DSlashser Sasha!!

Oh, If I want something, I will go for it at these sales.  Not long ago, I was pleased with myself, bidding was slow, and I was about to get a bargain, then a man jumped in, and we went up and up ....he fixed me with a stare, I stared back.  He must have seen I was determined, and mouthed across the barn "do you really want this?"   Of course I did .....why else was I there waving my catalogue???  So he kindly stopped bidding.  Shame he did not do it ten pounds earlier though!!!

It is spoilt when the dealers, and big guys come in though.  They snap the best stuff up.  Sadly not many of the good old fashioned sales still around.  Always makes me smile though.  At each one, you get the scrap - big money just now, and alot of eager buyers today.  A large chest freezer went for £120!!! Then there is the pile of glass and windows, the land drainage, the buckets full of screws, and bits and bobs.  Oh, and the sack tied with baler twine, full of....what exactly, but someone will bid £1 for it!!!

[doganjo]

When we bought our place in Aberdeenshire in the 90's the old farmer had a roup even though our offer had included all the farm implements.  But he was a nice old guy so we just told our solicitors to let it go.  And we were told it was tradition for us to attend the sale and buy something.  We enjoyed it and bought a few bits and pieces of old tat just for good luck and as a mark of respect for the outgoing owner.  He made £6500 which was quite a bit in those days - we had paid him £80K for the croft  John was particularly annoyed at losing a grey fergie tractor though.  It was in working order too as we had seen him on it when we first went to view the place.