Looking for items you can buy cheaply and sell on "virtual" online auction sites for lots of money? "Real" auctions can be the answer if you are prepared and have good instincts.

Some Auction Tips
Get the auction catalog ahead of time and mark the items you are interested in. Make sure you examine the items very carefully during the preview session before the auction begins. The preview session is a good time to mark in your catalog the most you'd be willing to spend on items. You don't want to get caught up in the excitement and overbid! Remember that you'll have to take the items home with you after the auction - make sure you have room in your car. (You might not want to go through the bother of shipping large items anyway.)

How to Find Auctions
IAL Auction Calendar claims to be the largest and most active listing of auction events, with 2,500+ auctioneers submitting to the calendar. Go to http://www.internetauctionlist.com/CalThumb-Search.asp and do a search by month or by state.

You can also sign up for their free email alerts and they will send you a list of auctions via email. Go to the Web site at http://www.internetauctionlist.com and click on "Free Newsletter Subscription."

Maine Antique Digest is a monthly newspaper for the antique community. The November 1999 issue was 420 pages long and included an index to shows & auctions organized by date. They also have a list of shows & auctions (from their advertisers) on their Web site at http://www.maineantiquedigest.com.

If you are an experienced auction buyer, you can share your auction tips with us! Email ina@auctionbytes.com.

We'd love to hear from you.