In an era where there are many people out there who are advertising themselves as professional appraisers, some of them even wearing the badge of authority from an appraisal association, it is important to remember that there are many factors at an auction that can contribute to the oversale or undersale of an item. It's not always the weather. We can't always blame it on a rainy day or heat stroke, and we can't always blame it on the auctioneer bouncing bids off the back wall. High auction prices can be the result of two family members vying for an item that is, to them, a family heirloom, two people who just plain hate each other competing for the same item, or simply two people that just have more money than brains. It would be good therapy, the next time you go to an auction, to take note of all the things that you think are selling for LESS than what they are worth.
Most auctions are worth the trouble, if for no other reason than to get a feel for auction crowds.
A good strategy is to scope out the auction ahead of time. Find out if it's an estate auction, an antique dealer going out of business, or one of these contrived auctions, put together by collectors, who will undoubtedly be there bidding on their own items. Estate auctions tend to bring in high bidders and family members, but also can hold many surprises, i.e. items not listed by the auctioneer. This can result in some incredible bargains. It's interesting to note that the nursing home went out of business because the secretary had embezzled a few thousand bucks.