SJAA/Bay Area astronomical auction XXIII

It's spring, and time for the annual migration of astronomical paraphernalia from one garage to another! On Sunday, April 13, 2003, an astronomical auction and swap meet will be conducted at Houge Park in San Jose, sponsored by the San Jose Astronomical Association. We will have the auction first followed by a swap, to allow people some additional haggling time for those items which were optimistically priced in the auction, or to sell those odds and ends items which were better off being in a swap. Jay Reynolds Freeman will be our auctioneer. Those who have observed Jay's performance in previous auctions have learned to appreciate his thorough evaluation of classical astronomical items on the spot. Great entertainment for all!

Doors open at 12:00 p.m. (or only slightly before) to register material for the auction, and view the auction material. The club reserves the right to accept only appropriate material for the auction so that the auction will run smoothly. A $1 donation is requested to obtain an auction bidder/seller number. The auction will begin at 1 p.m., and will run as long as needed. Seller may specify a minimum bid, which if not met, will return the item back to the seller with no commission applied. After the auction, buyers and sellers settle up using one check to (or from) SJAA and claim their items. Seller pays 10% commission, with a cap of $50 for any one item, $500 for a seller. We do not handle charge cards.

After the auction, material for the swap meet will be allowed into the hall, about 3 p.m. or perhaps earlier. Each buyer pays the seller. Sellers are to keep track of their sales, and pay a 10% commission, as for the auction. There are no table fees. All commissions from the auction and the swap are tax-deductible, as SJAA is a 501(c)(3) educational organization.

Do you have a large item to sell such as a large telescope or unusual item? For some pre-auction publicity, please email auction@sjaa.net with a short description and a photo, or a link to your own web page. If you have more than 5 items (large or small), please send a list with a short description and minimum bid. This will avoid the crush at the registration table.

See elsewhere in this issue for directions to Houge Park.