Having never heard or been to a government car auction before, I was pleasantly surprised and very…read moreimpressed when I was taken along with my Dad a few weeks ago. The purpose of the SA Government Auctions is to sell off 'old' Government cards which have reached 60,000kms or two years old. This means that most of the cars are no more than 4 or 5 years old and being an auction, can be sold for a ridiculously cheap price. The car yard is open a couple of days a week and members of the public can just walk through and look and sit in the cars. Then, the auction is held every couple of weeks and the public and car dealers head down to grab a bargain. All of the government cars are kept in pristine condition but none of them include registration or insurance which you have to pay for once you have been successful with your bid. And the type of cars they have are generally a certain kind - being larger Commodores or 4W Drives, which means if you are looking for a small city car, you may be waiting a while for one to come along. But keep persevering because the possibility to get a massive bargain is very real.

Phone number disconnected. Seems Pickles Auctions now do this auction. Why have the site and phone…read morenumber up ? just say refer to Pickles Auctions. Or would this be a little too hard to keep up to date ?

Do you know those stories where some Joe Nobody buys a Violin at a little auction or yard sale and…read moreit ends up being a Stradivarius, or a painting of a couple of blue poles and it ends......well, you get the drift. That won't happen at Scammell Auctions, because they just aren't that stupid, but you can bag yourself a sweet bargain! I started going to the Saturday Morning inspections (Auctions every Monday) a few months ago now, and soon bailed becuase mornings are meant to be slept through! Fortunately their weekly estate Auctions have their catalogues posted every Friday night with pictures! Even better yet the Monday Morning Auctions are on webcast and you can bid online.....from bed! SCORE!!!! The auctions usually have 1000 + lots with the first half being furniture and second half everything from cameras to cutlery, glasses and some really odd crap. Definately worth a look if you are after a dining suite, book shelf or the likes, or even if you want to try your luck at buying something cheap then flogging it on ebay! PS: The hours mentioned are the usual weekly inspection and auction times. They also have special auctions once in a while and are open during the week to pick up lots etc.

From the owner: Scammells offer over 50000 lots each year, making this a highly valuable resource, and it's free to…read moreall of our registered customer

Quite a cool place if you like auctions, and who doesn't enjoy grabbing a bargain, or at least…read morefighting against some other bidder on the floor with five dollar incremental blows? The boss Lachlan does quite a lot of deceased estates as well as businesses that have gone to the wall. You would start by going to their web site to download a catalogue of what they have listed on the next auction, or it can be collected from the rooms if you don't want to do it over the net. They have all the details on the website, or else give Lachlan a call and chat with him - the usual rules apply - you have to register as a bidder and there are some items that have a reserve price etc. The auctions happen every second Thursday from 9AM. You can register on an email list with them so if you are a serious restorer or second hand vendor yourself you can always be in the know as to what they have coming up. Like any auction house it is all relevant to whatever has come in that they are needing to clear. The reverse side of all of that is if you have items you want to sell at auction these folk have a lot of good experience and will be able to give you some idea as to what chance you have for getting rid of certain things.

I visited auction rooms today and as soon as I'm in the door the owner confronted me about the…read morereview below, asking how I dare writes review like that (showing me a printout of it) without speaking to him first before proceeding to call me an underhanded f*wit and a*hole for posting it. I'd already spoken to his staff, they didn't care, I left after spending over $1,000 that day and never spent a large sum there after this experience. "Business is about building relationships" he tells me, and that I've just lost this one and told me to leave the premises and spend my money elsewhere. ----------- Review left on Google and Facebook As a seller I'd never consider listing here. As a past (never again) bidder they make it very hard, if you actually work (and have money to spend) there's an extremely limited window for viewing and collecting goods. I've had to reconsider placing serious bids because I work normal hours and can't get in to collect goods unlike other auction houses which have after hours viewing and collection. More about moving as much stuff through as quickly as they can rather than getting the best price for the vendor. They do get good stuff but they will damage it after you've won it and take no accountability or even apologise. Bought an armchair which had been shifted from its original position and found it pressed up against a metal H beam, prior to auction the timber was perfect. Big chunk taken out and grey paint from the H beam left behind... Confronted them and they said "there's nothing I can do about it". Awesome, you've damaged my stuff. Consider your bids wisely the item you take away may be worth considerably less before you actually collect it.

This auction house is a pretty decent place to get some cheap computer gear. Yes they auction off…read moreother items, but I used to go here specifically for the computer auctions. When I was working in IT it was a cheap way to get equipment for testing. The auctions are very quick, so if you want an opportunity to see everything I strongly suggest you go during the viewing times to check everything out and test things. Make sure you have a copy of the auction guide, if you forget to print one out on the website you can pay for one on the day. Finally, the thing about these auctions are that they're a lot of fun! There's something exhilarating about putting up that card to bid on an item only to be outbid, then you bid again. Maybe it's the strategy, maybe it's the competitiveness, who knows? I know I always enjoy myself.

From the owner: At the forefront of technology within the auction business.read more