All-

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I've been paying more attention to local auctions for scrapping opportunities lately and, being the nerdy data-person I am, I've begun keeping loose track of who bids on what and how much items tend to go for. Right now I'm "watching" about three dozen electronics-related lots on a particular auction site. There are 14 different "people" bidding on these lots, though only 5 people are responsible for 24 of the 36 bids (each of those 5 people are bidding on 3 or more lots). We'll see what the numbers look like after the hammer falls, but for now it appears that there are a relatively small number of people in the area interested in the same kinds of things.

So this is my first question: do any of you folks ever strike off-the-record "gentleman's agreements" to not bid against each other (either first dibs, or you bid on X, I'll bid on Y) in these kinds of situations, or is it "all's fair in love and scrapping"? There's always the possibility of a rogue bidder or bad apple or something messing things up, but it seems that with a little forethought and cooperation, folks in smaller markets could benefit from minimizing direct competition. Is this possible, or am I just being naive?

My second question: do any of you find yourselves whistling the "Sanford and Son" theme as you drive around town? I do... often.





cheers,
tbg