This Auction Was Something Else
Vancouver, British Columbia is the birthplace of Laurence’s father. When we found out that we had the opportunity to attend the annual VPD auction it was a wonderful opportunity on more than one account. We went a day before the auction was to take place so that we could have some time to take a look around the city. What a beautiful city! We also took a trip to Fort Langley. This fort was constructed in 1827 by Hudson’s Bay Company. The fort today is a National Historic Site next to the 2,700 population village of Fort Langley. Even better … Fort Langley village is FULL of quaint antique shops; the perfect way for us to spend our day off. We found some old bottles and crucibles.
Auction day began very early in the morning with a preview. Because this police auction takes place every year in Vancouver, the seized and abandoned property was truly reflective of the area. There we many, many outdoor sporting items. Snowboards and skis were abundant as well as tools and small equipment. There were dozens of boxes of high-end designer clothing, new with tags, that had apparently been seized from shoplifters. The electronics available ran from mobile phones to tablets to computers. The type of stuff you would expect to see.
We also saw several boxes of comic books … but they had a newer look to them. We weren’t really interested in that lot. Better though was a bag of comic books that we really couldn’t see into. We could see something, but not much. That was the lot we were interested in! Along with the comic books we wanted to bid on a case of German action figures as well as some of the designer clothing. We hoped we would be able to score on some great items.
The auction was unbelievable! There had to be at least 2,000 buyers in that room! Hundreds of bicycles were on the auction block first. We had never heard an auctioneer speak as fast as this one did. My goodness! We couldn’t tell when one lot ended and another began. Bikes were being sold at the rate of about 5 a minute. And that went on for 3 hours or more! Sally keeps track of the bidding and it took her a good half-hour to catch on to the rhythm and cadence of the auctioneer. Finally we understood what the current bid was, what the auctioneer was calling for and what the final sale price was. Sheesh! This auction was something else!
At the end of the day we were lucky with the comic books and German action figures. The designer clothing was a fiasco but we did get a snowboard for our son, Luke. We loved Vancouver and will take a family trip there another time so that we can visit Vancouver Island and Victoria. We hope to find the house that Laurence’s father was born and raised in until he was 6 and returned to England.
– Sally and Laurence Martin
