Antiques and Collectables – The Collectors Blog

John Anastasi of Bucks County Courier Times writes that even with Internet auctions, many people still enjoy going to a live auction:

Although the Internet has revolutionized the auction industry in recent years, officials at Alderfer’s center and people who attend auctions there say there’s something special about a live event.

“Auctions were originally a social event and there’s still some of that here,” Wayne Mugrauer added. “You do miss that online.”

Alex L. Goldfayn of the Chicago Tribune writes this article about whaBam!, a new auction site that offers sellers some new options:

“It basically provides people with a low-cost alternative to the auction space,” Niazi said. “Most sites charge you to list an item, but we actually charge you nothing until your item sells, and then we only charge 1 percent of the sale price, which, as far as I know, is the lowest fee out there.”

While the site has only a tiny fraction of the listings of eBay (a recent search of the “books” categories revealed 10 listings on WhaBam compared with about 604,000 on eBay), Niazi said his auction site is maturing quickly.

Greg Paeth of The Cincinnati Post writes this article about the auction of Marge Schott’s estate this Friday:

Nearly two years after Marge Schott’s death, the auction house handling the liquidation of much of her estate is counting on the “Marge Factor” to be pulsing through Cincinnati’s Starlite Ballroom Friday afternoon.

In the first of three auctions of her personal belongings, Cowan’s Auctions of Cincinnati is scheduled to sell some 600-plus items that had been owned by the colorful and controversial former owner of the Cincinnati Reds.

MSNBC.com posts this article from the Associated Press about a non-profit organization auctioning some of Jerry Garcia’s household appliances:

Jerry Garcia’s dishwasher, toilets and other home appliances will be auctioned by a nonprofit group hoping to raise more than $100,000.

The items, which also include stereo cabinets, cupboards and a freezer, will be available for bidding on the online auction site eBay from Dec. 18 through Dec. 24.

John Stith of WebProNews writes that Saddam’s uniform is up for auction:

You just never know what’s going to fetch a high price on the Internet. Online auction house Manion has come up with one of Saddam Hussein’s daily dress uniforms. The uniform is being displayed with photos, a description and current bids.

Devin Comiskey of ECommerce Guide reports that UK based eBid has started an online auction site in the US:

It’s déj? vu all over again. eBid, the second largest online auction site in the United Kingdom, today announced the official launch of its U.S. site making it the latest auction site to compete against eBay. As part of the U.S. kickoff, eBid is offering new customers a Lifetime Gold Membership (a $79.99 value) for roughly the same price as posting a single item on eBay.

Marc Silvestrini of the Republican American writes that a community college in Waterbury, Connecticut that has started its first online auction:

The sheer volume of stuff is not quite up to eBay standards, but the Naugatuck Valley Community College Foundation thinks shoppers looking for a unique holiday gift should still give its online auction a try.

Bidding on more than 110 auction items begins today as the foundation kicks off its first online auction. The bidding ends Dec. 9.