Has anyone bought tools from irsauctions.com? Found a few that weren't too far away, but a lot of the prices seem too good to be true.
[OP]
Member
Has anyone bought tools from irsauctions.com? Found a few that weren't too far away, but a lot of the prices seem too good to be true.
Member
The auctions are like eBay, or any auction for that matter, you have NO idea what the prices actually are until the auction ends. I bid a lot, win rarely but I ain't gonna over pay, in fact I am gonna get a steal or wait unless it is exactly what I want. If you can't preview the item in person bid like you would on a used car that you couldn't drive first. Check the listing to see what the requirements are for removal, often their is a requirement of insurance to remove something that is not hand carry. If you don't have the insurance and don't want to pay a rigger/freight call and determine if items you are interested in meet the hand carry rules, sometimes something palletized you can pull out with a pallet jack is hand carry, sometimes it isn't, bottom line call.
If I see the wording (or similar) not needed for ongoing operations I get more cynical with my bids. The chances are higher that the machine is "whooped". Even if they don't need a large bandsaw because they now have a CNC that does that job they probably had more than one large bandsaw and trust me they kept the best one. Liquidations are of more interest to me, these are more likely machines that were humming along until the company had to fold, usually these are the auctions where you see some really cherry and/or well maintained machines. These are just my humble opinions!
What else ya wanna know?
PS note the buyers premium, you don;t get the item for what you bid! Also note the required payment options, it will usually run you $30 at the bank for a wire transfer or about the same between the bank and PO for a check and overnight mail. Less of an issue for a $2,000 item, more of an issue for a $50 item!
Last edited by Van Huskey; 05-20-2012 at 10:46 PM.
Of all the laws Brandolini's may be the most universally true.
Deep thought for the day:
Your bandsaw weighs more when you leave the spring compressed instead of relieving the tension.
Member
thank you van, i was always wondering exactly how these IRS auctions worked!
Contributor
The auctions also get extended every time someone bids in the last minutes so they can go on. I don't believe they bid their own stuff back like Machinerymax but don't know for sure. Dave
Member
Yep, if there is a bid in the last 5 minutes it gets extended by 5 more minutes. I have often wondered about shill bidding and it is certainly possible BUT I set an amount I am fully willing to pay and never bid over, period. In the end even if there is a shill if I will it for what I am willing to pay I am happy, although shilling is "wrong" for me it amounts to nothing more than a reserve, for someone that gets auction fever it can cost them a lot of unplanned money.Originally Posted by David Kumm
The one thing I really hate about the bid extensions is if there is two similar items you may only get a chance to bid on one as they may both end at the same time. Say you want a planer and they have 3 Northfield #8 planers they tend to group them in the same lot so they all end at within a few seconds of each other. If you bid on one then get outbid in the last few seconds and the other two end your only option is to bid on that one again or quit. I think they should spread the auctions out more and I think they would get more money.
I always bid right before the 5 minute mark which won't extend the auction if nobody else bids so folks watching and bidding on other items in that lot have less time to bother with MY item. Also note the bidding is different than eBay in that you can make a large jump bid if you like ie raise it more or a lot more than the minimum, so you have three ways to bid, the next minimum bid, a proxy bid (put in your max and the site bids up to your amount in minimum increments, like eBay) or make a set bid for any amount over the minimum bid.
In general the smaller and lighter duty items seem to end closer to dealer retail, ie you will tend to pay closer to dealer prices for a 14" Delta bandsaw than a 36" Tannewitz so if you have the room and are willing to deal with it you may be able to get a bigger item for a lot better deal. Not too long ago I saw some 6" PM jointers go for more than a 16" jointer in the same auction. I also have NOT been seeing the 3ph machines getting overlooked like in the past, it may be because business is picking up in light commercial OR people are learning the merits of and relatively cheap price of running 3ph machines. I staked out a machine a couple of weeks ago where they had a 1ph and 3ph version assuming the 3ph would go cheap(er), I was wrong the single phase went cheap and at least two guys fought it out for the 3ph machine which went WAY above what I would pay, but like I lamented about earlier by the time this was clear the 1ph machine had ended so I couldn't change course, I just bowed out.
There are also lots of tricks and traps to getting and item rigged/shipped which I won't go into unless someone cares, but be aware even if someone asks this isn't my forte'.
Of all the laws Brandolini's may be the most universally true.
Deep thought for the day:
Your bandsaw weighs more when you leave the spring compressed instead of relieving the tension.
Member
Bought a few things on there. Transactions went smoothly.
Member
van, i'm beginning to suspect that you must own a rather LARGE garage or a small warehouse to house all these orphan tools!
Member
Not at all, I tend to pack them in... Actually, Dave (above) has a lot more room and a lot more orphans and loved machine children than I do. I have a habit of buying stuff and selling it if something else comes along, if I had more room I might keep them but it is often too hard to pass up making the quick buck and looking for something "better". It is really cool to me to start with something you pay $100 for and trade/sell up until you have something worth 20 times that, then again more than once I have sold something then later decided I wanted one again and turned around and paid more for the next one...
Of all the laws Brandolini's may be the most universally true.
Deep thought for the day:
Your bandsaw weighs more when you leave the spring compressed instead of relieving the tension.
Contributor
Ditto on the rigging costs. I called on one and even though I have all of the appropriate commercial insurances they would not allow me to bring down my own forklift and load out, and the cost of the riggers was just stupid. Can you say kickback? I passed.
Each auction is different though, terms are set I am sure by the owner of the equipment, so on some it is fine. I bought a 36" Oliver and a 12" Porter through them at good prices.
Watch the location of the actual piece of equipment. Sometimes the piece in question is at a seperate location. I found a F1 listed in an auction in Grand Rapids Michigan but the jointer in question was in a facility in British Columbia when I read the fine print.
Larry
Member
There's a similar outfit called Ex-Factory with a broader geographic exposure.
They're much more willing to deal in single items with inexperienced buyers (that's me) than was IRS.
I never got an answer to my noob questions at IRS, about removal and shipping of large (to me) items.
In the end, my method has evolved to let a dedicated shop do my milling.
That way, I keep my cash and a garage space.
Member
I bid on a couple of things on IRS auctions and haven't been able to get anything. You have to watch what the buyers premium also.
Member
To the causal observer, IRS auctions stands for Industrial Recovery Services NOT the Internal Revenue Service. This is not a government sponsored auction, which may be a good thing, just so you know.
Richard
Member
I've bought quite a few things from them; Van's advice is spot on. They attract a lot of international buyers; especially when an entire factory is being liquidated. I've loaded out at some past auctions and seen buyers from South America, Europe and Asia all crating up equipment to ship out of country.
Member
Jim -
I'm in the boat with you. I saw some clamps and was going to bid on them. Simply asked if the sellers would be willing to stick in a box and slap a pre-paid lable on it. Yeah, still no response.
Member
I've been a regiestered user for a while with IRS but not won due to me being cheap I guess. On the other hand some things have gone cheap but half the country away. I think it's costs a buck for them to register you just to have something on file I guess and its good for a year. I've bid on lumber and would love some of the stuff but alas, none close. I'm in PA and they do centralized auctions in York, with a 100 crating fee. Still seen some nice pieces go for a song. Of course you never know but generally mfg's do a good maint job. Big hiccup use to be for me the 3 phase power that is almost always the case, I finally broke down and bought a 10hp RPC so 3 phase is no longer an issue for me. The old big stuff is much better than today's stuff.
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