If you have been in the market for boat auctions at all online then you’re probably well aware of the often touted boat liquidation sales available from Uncle Sam. Government sources like the U.S. Marshals Service or the General Services Administration (GSA) regularly liquidate surplus or seized boats as well as about any type of forfeited or surplus asset via. internet or via. state or local auctions houses.
My experience with these Gov’t sales is that many of the sources the Government uses to sell off their assets are what I call ‘transparent’ markets. These types of markets unfortunately easily permit bidders to compare the particular asset with a similar asset and thereby determine very quickly about how much they should bid. And often times they overbid. For example one of the transparent sources you frequently find government boat auctions is bid4assets.com Since there are already hundreds of other non-Gov’t yet similar assets being auctioned off on this site to the general public it’s difficult to really get a legitimate bargain since everyone has clear view of the market.
What I’ve tried to do is to find state and local Government sales events close to home that auction off boats Live, on site and with few attendees. These would include local Police and DEA auction events. The reality is that most don’t realize that every day across the U.S. a landlord, business owner, or some creditor is issued an order from the court directed to the local sheriff, requiring him to seize the debtor’s asset or property so it can be promptly liquidated at auction. The proceeds of course are used to pay down the creditors as much as possible. Surprisingly whoever attends these ‘must sell’ sales events (and they come and go all the time) will typically have opportunity to walk away with an extremely affordable asset.
Now when it comes to finding these Gov’t boat auction sales take a deep breath…it can be a real struggle to keep up with sales events on your own. Agency websites and newspapers advertise when they are scheduled to occur. However, there are legitimate membership auction database sites that keep you automatically informed on a daily. I’ve found them a real time saver. These sites offer members access to their regularly pruned auction sales data banks for a nominal, one-time fee.
I have signed on to several of these sites since most tend to focus on a particularwide or deep range of assets. Alternatively, others focus on particular types of auction sources. Strangely many membership sites are only Government related ..which in my opinion is too limiting since there are so many other types of auction venues to take advantage of.
In the end the key with any auction is to once and for all pick your particular asset, focus on it by consistently exposing yourself to listings so you can make suitable comparisons and offers. When it comes to finding a diamond in the rough at any Government auction sale or repo boat auction event, you have to be able to really know when you’ve come across a great buy. And you can only do that by constantly comparing assets so as to recognize an undervalued asset when everyone else just passes it up.