Going Once, Going Twice, Sold!

This weekend I received a call on my answering machine that started out as, "Hello, this is Rosie from the Goodwill..." I couldn't really hear the next part very well so my mind (active imagination) started fabricating why someone from Goodwill would be calling little ol' me.

Just for half a second I thought that maybe they knew that I shopped there all the time and wanted me to be a Goodwill representative or something. I could even have my own show, "Goodwill Trash to Treasure." Oh, the fame and fortune... Crazy, right? (Like I said--active imagination!)

When I spoke to Rosie personally she said that no, they didn't need another representative but that I had the winning bid on an auction item. Even better! (For those of you who aren't familiar with Goodwill Thrift stores, they have auctions every Saturday.)

Now, Goodwill auctions are nothing like the elite auctions of Sotheby's or Christie's where everyone present is in a suit and has a trust fund.

They're not like livestock auctions either where everyone is wearing boots and a hat. I have actually attended a few eventhough I wasn't wearing boots OR a hat--but my dad was. (And we did go home with some horses and chickens. Just sayin...)

They might be closest in kind to a country auction where people wear whatever they want and good deals are to be had. (But on a much, much smaller scale.)

The Goodwill thrift stores sell items at a discount. They also have a section where they set aside items that they find to be "unique". (In other words, items they think they can sell for a higher price.) These items are behind caged shelving or a glass display case.

They each have a number. There will be a notebook nearby with the numbers listed next to a starting bid. (The starting bid is the highest amount Goodwill thinks it can get for the item.)

Throughout the week people may write their name and increasing bid amount next to the item number in the book. On Saturdays, during the auction they will start with the highest bid price in the book for each item first. Then the auctioneer will try to get an even higher price with bidding from the people who are in attendance.

If nobody else bids on a particular item on Saturday, then the highest bid in the notebook wins.

I have been to a Goodwill auction once before. Last November I wanted to bid on some christmas items but the bidding went way too high. I did end up with a pair of Ugg boots for my daughter, though. They were in almost new condition and nobody else wanted to bid for them so I got them for $15.

I don't normally buy shoes second hand but this deal was too good to pass up. (And they worked really well for the 5 days of cold weather we had this winter.)

So, back to the phone call. Rosie from Goodwill told me that I had won the $16 bid for a McCoy pitcher and bowl. Apparently no one else wanted to bid on it. (They were too busy bidding on the Harley Davidson memorabilia and Precious Moments figurines....)

I'm lovin the detail. It is 10 inches high and has a light blue glaze. I'm so glad I won the bid!

(Wouldn't you know that my favorite staging area for pictures is in a pile of weeds in my backyard?)