Chapter 14: 014 Auction Event
Translator: 549690339
The next day, the weather was not very good. The sky was overcast and it seemed like it was going to rain. Early in the morning, the trio had a breakfast consisted of canned soup and canned mashed potatoes, then drove to the warehouse square.
The auction was to be held at 10 am. The reason they had arrived early was upon the advise of old Pierce. The objective was to observe the venue and the competition.
"You can glean a lot of information from the clothes, vehicles, and actions of your competitors, and then make targeted adjustments when bidding —"
Once in the warehouse district, old Pierce, who had been in the trade all his life, immediately became active, and began to share his wisdom with Leonard and the others in a low voice.
By 8:45, almost everyone had arrived. As they had been told, this was a high-end auction, so the number of participants was not many, adding up to about 20 people.
"It seems today's competition should not be too intense." After counting the vehicles on the field, Leonard slowly exhaled. Because there were only seven vehicles on site including theirs, which meant that there were only seven groups of people buying things today.
After all, even the smallest of these warehouses was no less than 200 square meters, so those who came to participate in the auction were basically driving various types of trucks. Otherwise, they would not be able to haul away the goods they bought.
"Alright, let's begin." Five minutes before 9 o'clock, a black Mercedes-Benz sedan drove into the warehouse courtyard from outside the gate. Then, a middle-aged man in a suit got out of the car.
"I remember you chose German as your foreign language elective back then, didn't you?" Hearing the auction notices being read in German with an accent, Pierce suddenly became nervous, realizing that he didn't understand German at all.
"Yes, although his German has a heavy accent, I can still understand it." Leonard nodded his head, then started to translate what the man was saying.
In fact, what the man said was very simple: there were a total of eight warehouses to be auctioned off today. The reserve price for each warehouse was no less than 10,000 Euros, and it required payment in full immediately. No credit was allowed.
Five to six minutes later, all the details had been explained. Another young man in the black Mercedes used a bunch of copper keys, covered in a thick layer of dark red oxide, to unlock the locks hanging on the door, and then pushed the big door open with force.
Next, everyone on the scene, divided into groups as they had arrived, passed in front of those doors with flashlights in hand. While, the two people from the organizing side were watching the time on their mobile phones, making sure the participants didn't cross the line.
According to the rules, each group could stand at the door for two minutes. However, everyone was just allowed to stand at the entrance, no one was allowed to cross the line, otherwise they would be immediately disqualified from the auction.
"Damn Germans--" As soon as the warehouse was illuminated by the torch light, old Pierce started cursing quietly. Because the warehouses were just too neatly arranged.
Some warehouses were filled with iron shelves, and various items were neatly sorted and placed on these shelves. Even if there was dust on top, it didn't prevent everyone from seeing what was inside.
Meanwhile, the other warehouses were filled with various boxes and oiled paper packages, which looked uniformly neat from the outside. Apart from being able to judge the maximum size of the items inside, nothing else could be discerned.
"This is the worst-case scenario in warehouse auctions." Old Pierce told the two young men as they were discussing after taking a look.
"Normally, we judge the value of the contents of a warehouse based on our eyes and experience."
"For example, a box marked 'handle with care' may contain porcelain or glassware, and a plastic handle protruding from the canvas could indicate that there is a bicycle underneath."
"In such situations, with enough experience, keen judgement and a bit of luck, one can make quite a bit of money at these auctions."
"But the situation today is entirely abnormal. For half of the warehouses, you can see clearly what's inside just by standing at the door. In such circumstances, one cannot net much profit from securing the warehouse."
"As for the other half, they're too tightly concealed to gather any information. What one ends up buying is entirely down to luck. If each warehouse has a minimum bid of 10,000 Euros, the risk associated with purchasing such a warehouse becomes exceptionally high."
"However, I think I saw something," said Leonard in a low voice after checking no one else was around. "In the second warehouse from the left in this row, there seems to be a blue torch symbol on a crate."
The crate was hidden beneath a layer of light dust. If it hadn't been for Leonard's extraordinary observation skills, the palm-sized symbol would likely have been overlooked.
"Blue torch symbol, blue torch-" After repeating the phrase a few times, Old Pierce took out his mobile phone, tapped it a few times, then held it up to Leonard's face. "Is this what you saw?"
"Exactly, that's the one." Leonard nodded at the torch symbol formed by the deformed TP and the flames above it. "What does it mean?"
"Ernst Tillman Pioneer Organization, a children's organization in East Germany related to the government." Old Pierce nodded, "But it disappeared entirely in 1990 with the fall of East Germany, so young ones like you might not know."
"So, that warehouse should contain some items related to the Ernst Tillman Pioneer Organization!" Pierce asked his father. "As relics of the Cold War, these items should have a market."
"There is a market, but it is quite niche, and the overall prices are fairly weak," Old Pierce mused. "So, we'll see what the price is. If it's cheap, we could buy it and take a gamble."
Pretty soon, the discussion time ended, and the warehouse auction officially began.
"The starting price for each warehouse is 10,000 Euros, and each increase must not be less than 1,000." announced the middle-aged man in a suit, raising his right hand.
"Alright, we have a starting bid of 10,000 Euros for warehouse number one, do we have any other offers — good, 11,000 Euros."
The first warehouse was full of mechanical parts, which appeared to be from vehicles. There were even several engines that looked very intact from the outside.
While these were old products from three to four decades ago, many of the parts were of a standardized type. Finding a market for them wouldn't be too difficult, so the competition started off intense.
Leonard and the others also bid a few times, but when the price rose to 17,000 Euros, they backed out. At that point, Old Pierce judged that they would basically make no money if they kept bidding.
In the end, the warehouse was secured for 20,000 Euros by a man with a big beard. Unlike Leonard and the other outsiders, these locals often have sufficient resources. So, even if they buy the warehouse for 20,000 Euros, they can still make a profit.
After successfully placing his bid, the bearded man quickly went over to hand over the cash to the Mercedes car. Then, the young man locked the warehouse's big door and handed him a key.
For the next 72 hours, the ownership of the warehouse would rest solely with him.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone