AUCTIONS aren’t what they used to be but they’re definitely back to stay it seems – the SCSI agrees, and yesterday launched I a consumer guide to auctions.

It says its guide provides an impartial overview of the auction process from both a buyer’s and seller’s point of view and sets out the steps that buyers –and sellers – should take before an auction and on auction day.

Its advice covers both the new kind of multiple auctions – like Allsop Space’s third mass auction tomorrow – as well as the traditional one-off auction, says SCSI’s residential chief Ed Carey.

What’s the most important things buyers need to know avbout buying at auction?

“It’s yours at the fall of the hammer,” says Carey. “If you don’t have the money, it’s your problem.” The guide can be downloaded for from scsi.ie