Who's heading to the GSAS auction?

Heads up, let us all know who's heading to the auction! Give us chance to carpool or find out who's bringing in fish.

Here is what I can bring to the meet for sale:
Moori Dolphin adult males or pairs
tangerine tiger juvies
Polit 1.5"
Borleyi 1"
Metraclima Aurora 3/4"-1"
adult breeding group albino eureka reds of 10 (1m/9f)
young adult group of sunshine peacocks 2m/6f
sunshine males

Wild Karema frontosa group of 5, big!
wild Tropheus Chilanga group of 16-17

I won't be going. I'll be working that morning.

We'll be there! Bringing some Repashy and blackworms for sale.

i am not able to make it my gf is not trying to make the journey .i am so mad i could rip her head off and drink her blood lol jk

Not positive yet, but I will probably be there. Bringing money to buy stuff that I really don't need and have no room for.

I may be showing up later. How does the auction normally work? Is it a silent auction? And how long do they wait to award the winners? I cant get there till after noon, and can only stay for a couple hours.

Madness, the way they normally do it is to give you a card with your member or guest number on it. When something comes up that you'd like to bid on, you hold your card up and keep it up until you win or reach the limit you want to pay. If you win, the item is brought to you right away and you pay before you leave. I think they might be able to take your payment early if you don't stay for the entire auction.

So its a long slow auction, and if the item you want is towards the end, you have a long wait? Not sure I can waste a whole day on this, I may have to re-think this.

Hi Madness,

Certainly not slow; typically 2 - 3 items are sold per minute! For a $1 you can "bump" an item to the front of the queue and it will go up for bid quickly.

So bidding starts at 10, I can't even get there till probably 1. Would it still be worth the trip? I mean will the action be pretty much over by then?

I think it will run till 3-4 pm.. by then some would have spent all their money.. it plays different at several auctions.

Sometimes bargains are found at the beginning of the auction as some bidders would want to wait till the end of the day to get cheap deals..only to find out everyone is doing it and all wind up paying more.

Sometimes I get good deals in the first hr while people come in later.

I think the fish sales go early.

The fish would be the only reason I would go, and if I miss the first 3 hours, I guess it may not be worth it. I guess we will find out come Saturday what my mood is. LOL

im going. i have some side deals to hand off. i'll be selling some plants and fish maybe some small equipment...and i will be using the dollar push system to bring items up early that im interested in. I dont have anything im particularly looking for but some times you can find some gems that spark your interest. I enjoy the crazyness of all the people and people watching is fairly fun .There is something about being in a room full of fellow hobbiest that is great. Makes my hobby / obsession feel more normal.

I love to people watch also. I just wish I could get there when the auction starts. 3 hours late kinda blows.

if you know someone you trustwith your money thats going maybe you could send them with a list of items and max bid prices and have them bid for you..

With never having been to one, I wouldn'tknow what or where to start

madness wrote:With never having been to one, I wouldn'tknow what or where to start

when you go in, register first to get a numbered card. Use that card and waive in the air if you want to bid, the prices keeps going up till the last person puts the card down. When you are done with the auction, return the card to the registerer and pay for your items.

Just watch the crowd and you'll learn pretty quick. Sometimes there's people bid like crazy for some really worthless stuff. Sometimes there are bins of miscelaneous fish junk auctioned off by the bin. Other crazy moments i see like a $1 ornament from a garage sale would fetch $20+ at the auction.

I'll be there, its my birthday present to myself

I wanna go so bad!!!

madness wrote:With never having been to one, I wouldn'tknow what or where to start

The first time I didn't either, but it doesn't take long to figure it out.

I think there are going to be some pretty good items to bid on at this event. Besides members selling all sorts of equipment, fish and plants, sometimes national companies also donate things and I've been to some of the auctions where local sponsor stores have also donated.

I get all this and understand the bidding. My concern is if I am 3 hours late to it is it worth the drive

Hi Madness,

Because of the way the auction is structured, the "good stuff" continues to be auctioned throughout the entire auction period.....not just at the beginning or end. There will be plenty of "good stuff" left after 3 hours. Actually, the better deals and lower prices tend to happen near the end when everyone is starting to get worn out - lol

Hopefully I can pull away and get there sooner. Ya, I think I will show up.

lots of good raffles this time..foster and smith are giving away 20buck vouchers on online orders.

let us know what you get after you get home im interested to see how it worked and see items and sale prices

wish I could go, I just dont have the tanks like I used to... and if i went I would buy way too much stuff..... then I would need more tanks... then my wife would divorce me..... so, just decided not to go.

sandnuka wrote:wish I could go, I just dont have the tanks like I used to... and if i went I would buy way too much stuff..... then I would need more tanks... then my wife would divorce me..... so, just decided not to go.

I don't find too many couples share the same hobby.. I heard that once from my wife before, she says i love the fishes more than her..

I don't buy or bring much stuff home. last time i only spent $8. It was fun watching some fools would pay way more for some items that could be found somewhere cheaper..

My advice on the auction, never buy store brands or cheap used heaters. Not worth it, the temp could get stuck on high and can't turn it down. Better off get a good one than cook your expensive collection.

I had a girlfriend for 3 years that wanted to get married and have me get rid of my hobby. Lets just say I still have the hobby and not her. I am sure some day maybe, but so many people dont want to share time. I had the same problem when my boys were young. Woman wanted me to pay more attention and time to them and less with my kids. That didnt work either.

So I guess that I am destined to be single. Bring on more tanks.

My gf loves how i love fish and would do anything for me if i needed it and i have finally showed her how to (do)her tank the right way its starting to come along.And i had one who was not into gaming and that does not fly... she had to go

ahaha..wish i could go!!

as for the other half...he was reluctant at first

3 years later and he is as obsessed with it as me ..has his own 7 gallon and he just set up his very own 40 tall!! ^_^


I got him addicted to the Killifish...witch I love as well..Im lucky he is ok spending most of our money on fish...as well as taking almost everything accept the bed and comp desk out of our room to fit 8 tanks !

<3.....im so lucky ^_^ I think i found a keeper!!

lol...

I was just thinking to myself how it would be hard to find someone that would be okay with the furniture slowly departing the house to make room for tanks. Since giving up my fish room, things around the house have moved out of it. Had a huge sectional and recliner in the living room, and my mother came home to a loveseat size portion of it left and the recliner. I'm working it down to just a recliner. Even the television in the living room was removed.... To be fair it was because I needed a spot for her fish tank...

I'm certainly lucky to have a mother that is so chill.

Kaosu, Im glad to hear a success story. I know so many men and women that are handcuffed on the hobby and what they would like to do, because their spouse/mate wont allow it.

Aquaman your still so young. You better hope she sticks around, cause finding another that is in to it, isnt easy.

Well, back to the topic at hand. Yes I am going and I hope to come home with many goodies.

See you there (maybe) madness. I go to these meetings and never know if I'm sitting right next to a member from fishbox.

Ratlova, I know what you mean about the furniture disappearing. I keep thinking that we never eat in the dining room, so why keep the furniture? I'm lucky that my husband doesn't care if I keep bringing tanks and fish home. And even luckier that he isn't into the hobby as well. I can't imagine that being a good thing -- I like doing things my way.

IDK I think it would be fun to have a partner that's into fish keeping. I mean you get to share the enjoyment and the water changes!

Aquaman your still so young. You better hope she sticks around, cause finding another that is in to it, isnt easy.

I know how hard it is i have ended relationships with 3 girls over my hobby's.I have had this one for almost 5 years and i do not see her going anywhere lol.your's is out there madness shes just hiding in some LFS somewhere lol .

I've had g/fs who humor my hobby. But never get into it as much as me. Tried to get one her own tank. It lasted a few months befor i had to take over care and maintanance. ... As for the auction. its good to know what an avarage retail prices is for the item your bidding on. People can get caught up in the moment and can pay well over retail. If they do name tags again ill draw a small box in the corner to id me as a site user

not a bad idea HorOB. (name is to long)lol. I will do the same, and put an M in it, or if enough room, or if I can, I will put madness on it in the corner.

Aww to be with someone who's okay with my obsession. She's even okay with a tank in the babies room. She's been with throughout my whole process to a little 20 gallon to a full fledged fishroom and even bought me a 125 for valentines day livin the life

So who did end up going? And What Did You Get?

i went, i bought some seachem matrix and food off the fixed price table. for a great price. also picked up one plant thats new to me. besides that just sold items. worked a side deal. enjoyed the show for the most part, wasnt really looking for anything special.

Fire Red Shrimp 10X for $18 total

the fixed price table was a bargain, got malawi seachem buffers for a buck each, as well as many other chemicals for my salt tank. probably got like 200 worth for only 20. Bidded and won a new 24" LED light and a reef test kit.

Auction had more people, but less stuff to sell. It was pretty much over by 2pm. Last yr lasted till after 430 pm.

i think it went longer last time to, i remember a lunch break last time

Hi gobluecichlids,

You are correct, we had record attendance at the auction today! In addition, we had a record number of items sold (712). With the improvements we have implemented in the bid recording and processing we averaged 2.5 items sold per minute which was also a record. That is why the auction was over earlier and we all got to enjoy a couple of hours of sunshine this afternoon.

On a side note these Fire Red Shrimp from Vancouver, BC are really red!

the sushi with spam meat was yummy!

we had some people coming late only to find out there wasn't much left!

I had a great time picked up plenty of plants some fertilizers from the fixed price table
Two pieces of wood and a white worm culture. Did only thing I didnt get was fish
My girlfriend loved all the snacks

I had no intention of buying, sold some tanks, fish, equipment and ended up only spending $45. Brought home 4 cichlid varieties and some albino baby BNs. I am still ticked that I missed the auction of the only fish I was really wanting....

I love this auction, everyone is as crazy as I am!!!!!

I had no intention of buying, sold some tanks, fish, equipment and ended up only spending $45. Brought home 4 cichlid varieties and some albino baby BNs. I am still ticked that I missed the auction of the only fish I was really wanting....

I love this auction, everyone is as crazy as I am!!!!!