Found An Aquarium Society In My Area

KrystaK · Mar 9, 2012

So I was searching in my area and I've found an aquarium society (One of the oldest in Canada, surprisingly lol) Anyways, they're having their anual spring auction at a community center suprisingly close to where I live and I am excited to go and see what it's all about.

But I'm also pretty nervous, I mean, I've been into fish keeping for less than a year and I don't want to seem totally stupid or anything when I'm there.
The auction is next weekend and tomorrow I;m planning on switching substrates and all (I've done it before so I'm not worried about it) and yeah, I was hoping to pick up some equipment and maybe trade some fish

Has anyone ever been to a fish auction? Can anyone fill me in on sort of what it's like? I don't want to go in completely unprepared.

Tolak · Mar 9, 2012

Auctions are awesome, I've been to countless auctions over the years. When you register for a bidder number tell them you are totally new to this, clubs love new people! Ask if there is someone you can talk to that can help you out at the beginning, they are bound to point you in the direction of an auction veteran, much of an auction is hanging out & having a good time beyond the aquatic end of it. Much of that is meeting new people as well as running into folks you only see once or twice a year.

If the club has a website with auction rules & such post a link, I'll look it over. There are different methods of going through the items to be auctioned, most common is the FAAS 10 table system or a variant of that. Get there early so you can look over what is to be sold, write down the lot number, as this is usually read off by the auctioneer. Some sellers show up late, take a look around at items a couple of times while you're waiting. As far as selling, attractive packaging is the key, bagged well, labeled clearly as to what the bag contains.

The basics of an auction are really easy, just don't spend more than you intend to getting caught up in the excitement! Depending on what is for sale & the specific auction rules there are various strategies you can use as a buyer or seller, these you pretty much learn as you go.