At an auction

Dear Editor,

As winter bites, many head for the auctions. This is the one place where you may have a rich man sitting with a poor man or a man in a suit next to a farmer in his cover-alls.

They not all come to buy but rather hear what the area has to say. The mix of a couple of hundred people spreads ideas that can save or make you money.

I have met people from both coasts and Europe who were visiting and wanted to hit an auction. Boy, do they have stories. The longest distance (traveled) I know of was an old man that just for an auction was Texas.

He pulled a trailer and was here to BUY! The crowd is a living moving school of fish hungry for items and information. Personally I try to stay in one place, and watch for bargains and yet never miss the chance to gain a new way of making life on the bottom of McCook's dollar pile better.

If you think you know what an item will go for, the crowd will make you wrong.

Unlike the stock market the people decide the price with no limits on any given day. So what have I seen sell and how much lately? I saw 20 nice arrowheads sell for $1,200 at the same time I was amazed to see a nice working washer and dryer not even get a bid of $5 for the pair.

I saw old toys going for over $100, but kids' bikes for a dollar each. I saw a post- hole digger sell for a dollar and a single dish for over $50. Even when the item is sold, I see trading and bartering along with laughter and jokes.

Bill Donze

McCook