Las Vegas-area auctions

I'm thinking that on my next visit to Las Vegas, attending an auction would be part of the entertainment.

Ideally, the auction would have interesting items like from a casino liquidation or with vintage gambling devices. Those I'd probably just watch to see what stuff sells for.

I've also seen some of the auction sites that have estate sales or retail returns. Bidding on something like a box of old vinyl LPs sounds like fun.

Has anyone attended these two types of auctions? What's the scene? It seems like there are vast amounts of items constantly being sold. Are they long and tiring? Any good deals? I used to attend arcade game auctions and have gotten a couple great deals.

Don't know.
Gambling equipment is probably rare at an auction.
Transportation across state lines can be difficult.

Those tv auction shows are not reality. No reality show is reality. Hot sun, long waits, little chance to view the contents of a storage locker, no change to enter it. Must have your own lock and must pay on the spot, can't even cross the street to go to an ATM.

I do know that if its a bankruptcy court ordered auction its on the website and also likely to be on the auctioneer's website as well.

Good luck.

I attend one or two a week.
A typical auction lasts about five hours, but generally the type of merchandise in the first half differs so few people stay all five hours.
McManus Auctions is every Sunday. A typical auction has a few hundred lots. Maybe ten to twenty of the lots will be casino related.
They occasionally have old video poker or slot machines. More often they have the signage from slots as they are mostly interchangeable.
There are several others but this is the best weekly one. They are off of Russel and Pecos, about five miles from the strip.
There are usually a number of tourist and many smaller items you can have them ship if needed.
Nellis Auctions is much further away and while maybe bigger, it's much less newcomer friendly and has a reputation that isn't sterling. The lots tend to be bigger. Last purchase I made from them was 1850 new small soap dishes.
I paid $10 for them , sold 500 to a discount store for $50, consigned another $500 to McManus where I cleared
about $20. I have a box or three of New Kids stickers. I'm think if I put one on a soap dish, I can sell a few dozen for target practice.
But I digress....
If you are an early riser, get there at 9 to register and preview. Auction starts at 10. Most stuff after 1 is office or home furnishings, or discarded casino tv's,and the like.

Quote: FleaStiff

Those tv auction shows are not reality. No reality show is reality. Hot sun, long waits, little chance to view the contents of a storage locker, no change to enter it. Must have your own lock and must pay on the spot, can't even cross the street to go to an ATM.

… 

Good luck.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the storage auctions. I wouldn't even think of going to one of those in Vegas, except maybe in the winter. I looked at the terms and conditions for ones in my area, and it's quite extensive: all cash, must wait until entire auction is over before looking at locker, must clear out everything or forfeit a cleaning deposit…

The ones I've seen online appear to take place in a warehouse or somewhere more hospitable. Here's one auction with a dream item.

Quote: billryan

I attend one or two a week.
Maybe ten to twenty of the lots will be casino related.
They occasionally have old video poker or slot machines.

Now THAT'S the kind of thing that I'm looking for. Thanks for the info!

Quote: billryan

Nellis Auctions is much further away and while maybe bigger, it's much less newcomer friendly and has a reputation that isn't sterling. The lots tend to be bigger. Last purchase I made from them was 1850 new small soap dishes.
I paid $10 for them , sold 500 to a discount store for $50, consigned another $500 to McManus where I cleared
about $20. I have a box or three of New Kids stickers. I'm think if I put one on a soap dish, I can sell a few dozen for target practice.
But I digress....

Were they more fashionable than these?
https://mcmanusauctions.hibid.com/lot/42145765/pallet-lot-1-888-clear-glass-soap-dishes/

Edit: There's TWO sets of soap dishes from yesterday (09072018): https://mcmanusauctions.hibid.com/lot/42145818/1880-blacck-resin-soap-dishes
What's with both of them having just under 1900 units?

This is an example of how less brings more. The pallets are heavy as hell and take up a lot of space. I don't know where they are coming from but someone has flooded the Vegas soap dish market. That's why I'm trying to rebrand them for the target shooting crowd.

Quote: billryan

This is an example of how less brings more. The pallets are heavy as hell and take up a lot of space. I don't know where they are coming from but someone has flooded the Vegas soap dish market. That's why I'm trying to rebrand them for the target shooting crowd.

Bill, put a Trump sticker on them and you could sell to lots of different markets. Political collectibles, novelty, target practice, etc. I bet you could get $10 in the collectibles market, and a few dollars a piece in the gun community.

That McManus site has awakened my inner crow.

That's not a good thing. Saw some stuff go insanely cheap. Not sure I can resist.

Bill, are you "crafty" at all? There are a lot of interesting things can be done with either the glass or the black dishes, then sold via ebay or etsy for a big markup. Especially with the amount of glitzy stuff going cheap in lots.

Etsy would probably be the best market but you could also turn them into premiums. A local motel's logo and the soap dishes become cheap advertising. The price is so low that once you've hauled them somewhere just about anything will put you in the 'plus column'.

Quote: FleaStiff

Etsy would probably be the best market but you could also turn them into premiums. A local motel's logo and the soap dishes become cheap advertising. The price is so low that once you've hauled them somewhere just about anything will put you in the 'plus column'.

You would think so, and if one owned his own warehouse that might be true, but I am currently working out of storage units which means storing them costs money, and because my space is finite, having these stored keeps me from bringing in more.
I'm hoping to transition into a space where I can sell direct to the public but am first looking to find a trusted partner willing to front it

Quote: beachbumbabs

Saw some stuff go insanely cheap. Not sure I can resist.

Sorry, I hope I didn't negatively start something!

Sometimes I visit auction or classified sites and it creates desire for something I had no need for when I was blissfully unaware of its existence!

Quote: beachbumbabs

That McManus site has awakened my inner crow.

That's not a good thing. Saw some stuff go insanely cheap. Not sure I can resist.

Bill, are you "crafty" at all? There are a lot of interesting things can be done with either the glass or the black dishes, then sold via ebay or etsy for a big markup. Especially with the amount of glitzy stuff going cheap in lots.

.

I'm working on something that will hopefully get some artistic types involved. The big problem is I'm a one man operation right now, juggling three sometimes four balls. Another problem is that Henderson is very strict on licenses to sell second hand goods. Ridiculously restrictive.

Quote: billryan

You would think so, and if one owned his own warehouse that might be true, but I am currently working out of storage units which means storing them costs money, and because my space is finite, having these stored keeps me from bringing in more.
I'm hoping to transition into a space where I can sell direct to the public but am first looking to find a trusted partner willing to front it

Sounds like bad decisions may culminate in the failure of a venture before it really gets started. I wonder what a partner would say to someone that filled his store with items of no interest to the buying public. Product that is free can be a bad deal. How many people are currently running around looking for a soap dish?
I buy my soap in bottles and have no need for a dish.

Quote: MaxPen

Sounds like bad decisions may culminate in the failure of a venture before it really gets started. I wonder what a partner would say to someone that filled his store with items of no interest to the buying public. Product that is free can be a bad deal. How many people are currently running around looking for a soap dish?
I buy my soap in bottles and have no need for a dish.

That's because you think small. How many restaurants go thru multiple soap dishes per week?
How many 99 cent stores exist?

Seriously, would you prefer to lease a store and then go look for merchandise to stock it, or take advantage of already having inventory ready to go.

Oh no. What have I started??

Quote: smoothgrh

Oh no. What have I started??

Isallgoodman.

Quote: billryan

That's because you think small. How many restaurants go thru multiple soap dishes per week?
How many 99 cent stores exist?

Seriously, would you prefer to lease a store and then go look for merchandise to stock it, or take advantage of already having inventory ready to go.

None...All the restaurants that I go to have soap dispensers. I think I would leave if the only option was a random bar of soap some homeless person just used to bathe in the sink. I can see you now selling 50 soap dishes for $5 to 50 Dollar Stores. WTF?

Maybe they will give you some ribeyes in trade.😀

Next week the auction might have some buggy whips. Try not to buy all of them. I hear the market is small and narrow, as of late. Do they have any vehicles, tools, high value modern electronics, and such?

I wish you two would get a room already.


Don't forget to invite Romes, I'm sure he wants to watch.

I eventually did attend a Las Vegas auction last Sunday!

McManus Auctions is about a 20-minute drive from the Las Vegas Strip starting from Planet Hollywood. Every first Sunday of the month, they have a live auction—and my vacation just happened to coincide with it.

They were auctioning the kind of items I was looking for: toys, pop culture items (Beatles TV tray, vinyl LPs), and a couple casino and coin-op devices—though nothing too unusual or exciting. They also had the usual auction mix of jewelry, coins, guns, household items, art, and furniture.

Some items sold for more than expected, and some items sold for less than expected—which to me is part of the entertainment. For example, a coin-operated machine that dispenses Hershey’s chocolate bars for 10 cents had a final bid of $90. If I had driven to Las Vegas, I probably would have put in a bid. Of course, you never know how high bidding will go when two people really want an item.

I bid on two lots of new Funko Pop figures, one with 9 boxes and the other with 16 boxes. I wasn’t going to bid too high because my kids really don’t need that many, and I’d need to buy something to transport them on the plane. Including the buyer fee, each lot sold for $5.50/figure—a steal based on retail prices.

Buyers must add an extra 10% of the hammer price when paying with cash—13% with credit cards. Coffee and drinks are free. It was cool in the warehouse at 10 a.m., but I can imagine it getting hot by afternoon. Throughout the week leading up to the auction, they add items to their website so you’ll know what will be available. They went through 50 items in less than an hour, so get there early if an item you see is among the first up for bid.

I won the second Beatle tray with my preliminary bid. I was surprised because it went for about a third of the first one.
McManus Auctions only do one live auction a month.

Quote: billryan

I won the second Beatle tray with my preliminary bid. I was surprised because it went for about a third of the first one.

That's the kind of thing that makes auctions interesting! Congrats on the deal!

I attended the LVPD auction years ago. Most of it was junk. As I recall, lots of tools, junky bicycles, and baseball bats.

I have a rather low opinion of auctioneers. Around here some advertise an auction but its really more a yard sale as the auctioneer has a following of people who show up but never bid against each other, so the seller really just gets cheated. Often lots on corporate auctions are assembled so that the public will not want to bid, but the "sale" at auction is then used to transfer assets to a new entity at an artificial price under the guise of a well attended auction.

a creditor in Nevada who sells a debtor's collateral must comply strictly with the notice statute or it is deemed an auction with an insufficient number of bidders to establish a proper value.

Goodwill soon goes to solely digital auctions.

Quote: Wizard

I attended the LVPD auction years ago. Most of it was junk. As I recall, lots of tools, junky bicycles, and baseball bats.

What sort of stuff would you expect to find? Anything of real value would be claimed by its original owners or their insurance companies.
Go to a high end estate auction.They recently had one at a house once owned by Dean Martin. Valet parking and complimentary champagne and bacon wrapped shrimp. A few items went for mid five figures, but others went for under $25.

Quote: billryan

What sort of stuff would you expect to find? Anything of real value would be claimed by its original owners or their insurance companies.
Go to a high end estate auction.They recently had one at a house once owned by Dean Martin. Valet parking and complimentary champagne and bacon wrapped shrimp. A few items went for mid five figures, but others went for under $25.

A decent business idea might to buy up all the bikes and sell them to people going to Burning Man. Then offer to buy them back for less when they leave. I've heard a ton of bikes get abandoned there.

Burning Man is so yesterday. The kool kids are headed to Alien-stock.
There is a guy at the old Giant Stadium who is legendary for cruising the parking lot after games for abandoned goods and reselling them. You'd be amazed what he comes up with. People leave coolers, BBQs, chairs, coats, football's, packs of cooking gear, dishes. Someone once left an electric wheelchair that he turned in.

Quote: Wizard

I attended the LVPD auction years ago. Most of it was junk. As I recall, lots of tools, junky bicycles, and baseball bats.

Quote: billryan

What sort of stuff would you expect to find? Anything of real value would be claimed by its original owners or their insurance companies.

When I was a teenager, I worked concession at a sheriff's auction in South Florida. They had lots of good stuff including cars & boats. As I understood, it was mostly stuff seized from drug trafficking arrests.

Quote: Joeman

including cars & boats.

The cops love it when they can seize a "roach coach" from some food vendor because such vehicles get turned over to the sheriff's Search And Rescue posse and get called out for a variety of incidents which can often take place in areas remote from fresh coffee or hot meals.

Urban bicycles are often being used as advertising platforms so abandoned bikes might be an opportunity but some cities are passing ordinances to counter the trend.

Quote: Joeman

When I was a teenager, I worked concession at a sheriff's auction in South Florida. They had lots of good stuff including cars & boats. As I understood, it was mostly stuff seized from drug trafficking arrests.

It depends on the type of auction. Government isn't all that big on seizing stuff like in the 80s/90s. It turned out they often paid as much to store the stuff as they brought in.
Most auctions are catalogued on line so you have an idea what to expect. The fun is finding things that are hidden in plain site.
At the auction mentioned, I won a lot that featured the Lone Ranger. Paid about $25. Just visable was a sealed Superman card game from Ideal Toys. I listed it for $119 and accepted a $99 offer. Funny thing is one of my competitors saw I had the Lone Ranger stuff listed for $25 and gave me an "I told you you paid too much" look.
Recently bought 1175 pieces of unclaimed dry cleaning for $85. While we are renovating my building, Ill put a couple hundred pieces out for $5 a pop. After a few days, reduce them to $3 and then a dollar. My payroll last week was over $5,000 with next to no money being generated. This week, it will be closer to $2,000 but that's still tough to cash flow construction without an actual cash flow. I did sign my second tenant this week., but I gave them two months free rent in return for them signing a two year lease.
McManus has some high end gamer stuff and some nice leather furniture up later today. 75 inch tv or some such monstrosity, as well.