Auctions bring back history
o the delight of people in the Wimmera seeking a rifle through history, the easement of COVID-19 restrictions has allowed a return of farming property clearance sales.
Elders Horsham branch manager Mat Taylor said it had been a couple of years since he had managed face-toface clearance sales, but he was excited by their return.
Mr Taylor said while people had become accustomed to shopping for second-hand items online, people still enjoyed the historical and community interaction that came with in-person sales.
“Things changed a lot with COVID-19,” he said.
“People were at ease buying online, but we still hear from so many people who really enjoy coming along to the sale.
“They love to sniff around, that old saying – one man’s trash is another’s treasure.
“For those people, they have been starved of it. You’ll be surprised how there is a market for anything.”
Mr Taylor managed a large clearance sale of farming equipment last week.
“This equipment often has a bit of family history about it and it is often sold when a family’s farming history is at an end of an era,” he said.
“It can carry a lot of emotions sometimes, for people selling and buying. Lots of people will come along and see something they remember their family owned. They buy it not because they need it, but because their dad owned one and they need to have it.”
However, Mr Taylor said as global supply-chain issues reduced an availability of goods and supplies, the price of usable second-hand equipment
had increased, and agricultural-sector equipment had not been spared this second-hand scurry.
He said people had bought farming machinery 20 years ago, kept it in decent condition, and now sold it for a profit.
“Due to the unavailability of replacement parts for equipment and machinery, people are willing to pay money for old stuff,” he said.
He said his agency always had a few clearance sales in the pipeline, with a ‘cracker’ of a sale coming up in April.
“There is always a lot of work involved to make them happen. Months and months of preparation,” he said.
“We have some ring oiler rigs, a ripping sign made in the 1920s, Harley Davidsons, cars, old tools and bits and pieces. There is a collector for everything, and these farms are a gold mine.”