I agree with all the point others have made but want to point out the difference between Bidspotter and the auction house. It sounded like some were referring to bidspotter as the auction house, but they are just the platform; in this case IRS auctions is the auctioneer. The auctioneer has more to do with how the sale goes than bidspotter does.
I saw Pedowitz mentioned a few times and not to get off track, but I generally avoid them at this point. They may claim to be the largest, but I would not call them the best. I have used their NJ division and their Carolina division. Their prices are usually competitive, but that is because they only show up if they line up multiple loads. If they dont get enough loads they will no show on you. I paid a truck to get loaded by their Carolina division and they canceled on me the morning the truck was already headed there. I had to eat that truck cost and find another rigger. Ray at their NJ division was good to work with on the phone as was their office staff, but the foreman they sent was the most unprofessional and incompetent rigger I have ever meet. There was another PM member their while I was getting loaded by them and he commented to me how shocked he was at the way they acted. They tried to lift a cnc lathe by the sheetmetal, they trammed a Hardinge across a gravel parking lot by just forking under the base, when it almost fell the solution was to have a guy ride on the forks to hold onto it, rather than getting skates out they backup and got a run and go with a versalift to get a VMC to slide out of a corner, I could go on. To make matters worse, they were total assholes on top of it.
Back to your situation. As others have mentioned, their are riggers for that sale listed. It is in your best interest financially to use one of the listed riggers rather than finding your own, unless you have bought multiple machines and are filling a truck. They usually list a couple riggers, but with a sale that size only one will show up. I suggest calling the site contact from IRS and asking which rigger is likely to come and then call that rigger for a quote. They may not know which rigger is coming until after the sale though, thats not uncommon. I didn't see the site contact listed in the details of that sale, so I would call IRS and ask for the site contacts information, the office people wont know shit, you need to talk to the guy at the site.
I saw some folks mention that when they have used bidspotter their was a rigging fee included. This sale doesn't have that but some do. As a general FYI, this is called an ERRA, exclusive rigging & removal agent. These are usually very completive even though some said they were expensive. They are usually only expensive on minor items like charging $100 to load a small band saw or grinder that might only sell for $100. If there is an ERRA agent listed but no price, call before bidding or you can get hammered, it sounds like this is what Richard described. I had a buddy get smacked $1000 to load a Bridgeport. On the good side of an ERRA, I have had large cnc machines loaded for as little as $500. Expect to pay $1000-$3000 for a machining or turning center and a few hundred for a manual machine outside of an ERRA. If the sale is small though and there is not a lot of work for the riggers it can get expensive.
I have found getting the stars of trucking and rigging aligned for auctions can be nauseating. You need to thread a needle that isn't there in a private sale. If you have used a freight broker for anything you know their issues and once a rigger is mostly finished, you need to be out of there or they will leave on you and then you need to pay extra for them to remob if they even will. If you are not familiar with freight broker issues, they don't tell you the whole truth. They say a truck is headed there when they are still trying to find one, they will have a truck at your door in 12 hours; at midnight, when you asked them to be their in 2 days from 8-5, ect. Pedowitz is the only one to ever stick me on this, but I have gotten close a few other times. You just need to stay on top of it. Once you buy it, you need to start arraigning loading and transport immediately, you don't have days to decide, the earlier you communicate the better.
Others mentioned some of the riggers offer load and transport. I have found this favorable in short regional moves like Dan described, but your going a long way. I would ask for a quote to see what it costs, but a general freight carrier will likely be cheaper. This can be seen in the comparison between ATS Logistics, a general freight carrier, and Pedowitz, a regional machinery mover. I would expect Pedowitz to always cost more, but it will be on a conestoga trailer like Richard described and will likely have a single driver from A to B where the general freight carrier may have a conestoga but more than likely will be tarped on a flatbed and the trailer will go through regional hubs and possibly see multiple drivers. A dedicated machinery mover will likely go smoother but will also cost more. The arraignment VTM described is a combination of these two modes and is offered by a lot of the riggers, it will be worth asking about store and ship options when you ask for a quote. It will likely cost a little more than having the rigger load right onto a general freight carrier but will be easier to arrange.
On the actual bidding, as Garwood said, never prebid on anything even if it is a timed auction. The house bidding dalmatiangirl61 described can be nefarious but can also be the sale arraignment. Some auctioneers offer a floor price on certain machines for the sellers, where the auction house will buy the equipment and resell it themselves if it doesn't meet certain price minimums. This usually is not the case, especially if it is a court ordered sale and as Garwood said in more colorful terms, it is where deals can be found. One item I don't believe others have touched on is the actual bidding. This sale is a live webcast sale. That means you will need to log on at a certain time and listen to the auctioneer like you would at an in person auction and then click on the bid button the same as you would raise a paddle at an auction. This is good and bad. You can get great deals at this style auction, but you can also make mistakes. Couple things to note on this type of sale, the auctioneer usually starts at the price they expect it to sell for based on past sales. They may start a manual lathe at $5,000, then quickly go to $2,000, $1,000, $100; typically no one bids until the bottom but the auctioneers are usually pretty close to the final price on their opening bid ask. Be careful with the bid button during this time. There will be a lag between what the auctioneer says and the bid amount on the screen shows. You may think you just bid $100, but you actually bid $1000. They also group lots on the fly. Also be careful with this. They may do a "one money", "times the money", or "buyers choice". One money, the amount you bid gets both items; times the money, if they group 4 lots together you will pay 4 times the bid amount; buyers choice you get to choose which lot or lots you will take for your high bid and you can take one item or all of them. If you only select 2 out of 4 items you will pay twice the bid amount and they will run the bid again until all lots are gone. I have had auction houses bid a one money then charge me a times the money, if this happens call the auction home office immediately, don't wait until the sale is over. You can see what they have charged you in the "items won" tab. I have also been the second place bidder on items and then been charged the final bid amount when I wasn't the winner and didn't bid that high, be careful and review your invoice thoroughly for these situations. On the bid button, it can change quickly on you. If bidding is moving fast on an item, be careful, you may think you are bidding $100 but end up hitting $200 and its no longer a deal; this is more an issue on low cost items. Some auction houses will change auctioneers in the middle of a sale. Be careful when this happens and the tempo changes. The previous auctioneer may have been holding bids open longer and the new auctioneer moves much quicker, this is when deals can be had or lost.
Like Garwood, im curious what your interest is here due to the distance your willing to travel, but also understand why you dont want to say until the sale is over. To be honest, I would never even post about an auction im interested in. The two manual machines that stick out to me are the Grand Rapids cutter grinder and the Mori manual lathe. Those Grand Rapids are stout units. The Mori manual lathes seem to pop up a lot out west, but you dont see them in the east very often this may be why Garwood dosent see it as being very unique, but also being on the east coast I can see the appeal in that one. On the CNC gear, maybe the pre DMG duraturn due to capacity and chuck clearance relative to footprint, but its a linear way machine not the box way SL style machine.
