by Sahar Foladi
An auction place selling off second-hand goods is proving to be popular in the face of growing cost-of-living pressures.
Smart TVs, bicycles, garden pots, lawn mowers, household furniture, kitchen items, jewellery, perfumes and oils are all kinds of things you’d sprawled in the car park space of the Dandenong Market.
Mary has been working at Kathy’s Auction for more than 30 years saying there are phases where certain items are more popular as times and society change.
She says the auction responds to those changing times supporting not just the wider community in hard times but also new arrivals.
“We try to be reasonable cost of living is increasing, it’s getting harder, and we see that by the types of things people are buying.
“Everything from selling cutlery, gardening equipment, people are trying to make that dollar stretch as much as possible and they’re able to do that.
“People are learning to become sustainable, fix and repair, trying not to be a society that disregard things.
“We have a lot of refugees come through, they come to buy household items and kitchen items.”
Cost of living pressures is the dominant theme of this upcoming federal election where early voters shared their concerns, helplessness and lack of faith for a proper and timely solution for the rising issue at hand.
It has impacted all, pensioners, young families, big families, individuals and even full-time working individuals.
Mohamad Coneh, who works full-time at a gas company, has been visiting the auction for a long time.
He bought a refrigerator only for $50 “in a very good condition.”
“I come here to buy some stuff for my homes. I usually buy household items, some of them are good because some people sell their unwanted items here.
“It’s not a new thing here, it’s been going for long.
“It’s good for the area because brand news items in the shop charge you thousands of dollars and you come here, you buy it next to nothing.”
Mr Coneh has bought tile coater for only $2 and a travel handbag for $5.
Another buyer named Peter bought a heavy-duty trolley for only $5.
A brand-new trolley would cost anywhere from $30 to $500 depending on its variety.
Peter says curiosity always takes him to the auction as he stands to keep an eye out to bid and buy for anything he needs for a bargain.
The auction is nothing new, it goes all the way back to the 1800’s with livestock and later excess produce as “moving on things.”
According to auction worker Mary, it unofficially began with the Dandenong Market.
Mary found herself “glued” at the auction one day when she visited with her father not expecting to find anything of interest initially.
But a week later she found herself working just for fun and it became part of her life since, committed to it alongside her full-time jobs.
“I couldn’t sleep the whole night, I couldn’t raise my voice at all (when she was told to do auctioning) but now I can talk under water,” Mary laughs.
She officially named the auction after Kathy who Mary took over the auction from.
Frank Field has also been with the auction for 45 years and remembers when before 1966 a lawn mower could be bought for one pound.
Kathy’s Auction is on every Tuesday and Friday mornings from 8.30am.
