First time auction tips (plants and fish)

[PaleoShrimp]

In a few weeks, I will be able to go to my first club meeting and auction of the local aquarium club.  I would like to try and get some plants at the auction, since I know they usually have a pretty good selection.  I did a search of the forum and couldn't really find anything.  If it doesn't already exist, I thought we could have a thread of tips for first time auction goers like myself.  I'm mostly interested in plants, but I'll open it up to tips on fish too.  I'd like to know what you do when you go to in-person auctions: what do you look for?  what are red flags?

What advice would you give to a first time auction attendee?

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

This is actually a good thread for it! 

‘Twas the Night before Auction…

and I'm sure people like @Fish Folk have other pieces of advice if you don't see good info there!

[lewk]

I still haven't been to an auction, but when I was planning on going I remember watching a video from Irene that seemed helpful.

I think this was it: 
 

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I believe @Guppysnail has gone to an auction before.

[Guppysnail]

At the two clubs I belong to they lay all the bagged goodies on tables. Before the meeting starts. Everyone gets to peruse the table. 
What I have seen has all been very good quality fish and plants. Hobbyists that bring them are enthusiasts enough to join a club and know there are a lot of seasoned veterans that will be seeing their goods. They take pride in what they bring. 
our clubs you get an auction number at the beginning and pay at the end. 
I see a lot of things come to auction that are not as common so have your phone to look up unique items that are on the table. 
Any plants you purchase are coming from thriving tanks so will most likely have lots of microfauna and often snails. I use Reverse Respiration on all incoming flora to prevent unwanted hitchhikers making their way into my tanks. RR will also eliminate any algae not visible. 
Most important is have fun. 


 

 

[Andy's Fish Den]

Its always exciting going to a club meeting and seeing what fellow members brought for the auctions held. I have been to club meeting that only had 20 items for auction, and then others where there is over 100 items at a regular monthly meeting. Most clubs will have a table that the bags of fish will be set on, take your time to check them out, if there are any fish or plants that you're not familiar with, use good old trusty Google. Take notes down for what fish or plants that you're interested in so that you can be sure to watch and listen for them to come up to bid. My club does with plants and equipment, you have to put a buy it now price on the bag, to where someone can just buy it, and not have to wait for it to go to auction. We had meeting that there was as many plants as fish so it helped speed up the auctions. There will be some plants not purchased with the buy it now, so will be auctioned, a lot of times they go cheaper than the BIN price, but I have seen them go for more. 

The good thing with a local fish club auction, you can know that a good majority of the fish and plants have spent some time in someone local tank, so they are acclimated to aquarium water, and most likely, the plants have already been growing submerged, so you don't have to worry about converting them like you do the ones from stores.

Find out when you arrive, how they run their auctions. Some clubs you have to be a member to buy and or sell in the auction. They may use bidder numbers or membership numbers. 

[TheSwissAquarist]

Nice thread! Lots of great tips.😁

[PaleoShrimp]

I got to go to my first club meeting and auction this past Sunday and wanted to add a few things from my experience for anyone who might see this in the future.

The local club is pretty small and informal.  I arrived early and was able to look over everything and not feel rushed.  Being early also allowed me to talk about fish or plants with the people who brought them, which was a great way to get information.  I'm in Southern California and the meeting was outside.  It was actually a perfect day but I brought a cooler for insulation for any live animals I bought.  When it's really cold or hot, this would be a good thing to have for either plants or animals I think.  I brought a notebook and wrote down the things I was interested in and the max price I was willing to go on them.  I also kept track of how much things went for that I might be interested in getting in the future so I could plan roughly how much I would spend in the future.  I also wrote down how much I spent on each item to keep track of my total and make sure my numbers checked with the people at checkout.  My last tip would be don't get caught up in the excitement of being at a meeting and an auction.  Even if something is going really cheap and is a great deal, only get things that you have a place for and are ready to care for.  I say this because I was very tempted on a few things that I just really wasn't ready for yet.

All in all, it was a really fun experience and I plan to attend more meetings and hopefully will be bringing my own things to the auction eventually.  Thank you for all the tips and advice!