A box full of comic books, an electric lawn mower and, to top it off, a retro racing bike. Bargain hunters have come to the right place in Schoonloo today. More than 180 items are auctioned on the annual auction day.
“The tension and the bidding against each other. That’s what’s so much fun,” says a man sitting at the front. The security guard is just hammering away the lawn mower, which yields 15 euros.
A man with a mustache is the lucky one: “Things are going really well. I already have about ten things in the car. That’s a hobby.”
About fifty fellow villagers, but also traders, managed to find Eetcafé Hegeman today. The man with the mustache sells some of the items back on the market. “I don’t have any tactics. But if I think I can sell something more expensive, I go for it.”
It is the seventeenth time that the traditional shopping day has been organized in the village. And that wasn’t always in a nice warm café. “The first few times it was in a shed or a warehouse. That was cold,” says organizer Anton Bardie, laughing.
Items are collected for the auction throughout the year. They also do other promotions, such as selling kneelers. All in all, this generates thousands of euros for the village treasury. The proceeds go to the village festival, which is celebrated every five years.
Bardie: “Then we can party and hustle again. But we organize all sorts of things. We once had a bird of prey show and there is plenty to do for the children.”
The next village festival is planned for 2028. And the auctioneer does his utmost to drive up the price. And sometimes it works.
The man at the front buys the most expensive item so far, for 36 euros. “A record player with LPs. So I can make my wife very happy. That’s nice, isn’t it!”