Auctions for the government offices

Today in Japan politicians are saying that they are thinking of a total solution to turn the economy around after the downturn, the main reasons of for this are rising prices of oil & food. Some say the total solution is to boost the support rating of Prime Minister Fukuda, but with the tax revenue shrinking, unless they control spending it is doubtful if it will be effective in Japan’s current financial condition. I want them to stop if it is going to cause an extra burden for our future generation by temporarily handing out money.

Now, it is not only the national government who is suffering from the result of tax cuts but prefectural and local communities are in the same situation. Since a few years ago, there have been public online auctions by the local government to sell their own assets and assets seized as a procedure for the collection of tax delinquency. To participate in one of the auctions, it used to be done by visiting one of the offices and place our bids in the box provided. However, this is not a good way to get the highest possible price, so now they use the biggest online auction website, Yahoo Auction so that general public can easily participate.

The three merits of the government office auctions are:
1. Because they are public auctions, the estimated values are usually lower than market price (there is always a possibility of getting a bargain)
2. It is safer because the seller is the government
3. You might find something quite rare

This time, the range was from a super-expensive car “Bentley”, a fire engine to a three-wheeler “Giant Coney” which we only have a few in the country. “Giant Coney” is a classic car made in 1959 but the production was discontinued in 1960 to give way to light-weight 4 wheel vehicles. They only made 7350 and only a few are still in the country. Oh, there was a US classic car “Chrysler Plymouth” as well.

This type of auction has a special procedure, different from ordinary auctions. You have to register yourself (sometimes you might be asked a bond) before placing a bid. Please be careful because you will only have 1 chance of bidding. (When a bond is asked and if you do not win the auction, it will be fully returned to you.) Some lucky person got a “Charade” for \2,200 and the highest price was a “Bentley” (Continental GT6.04WD) of \19,989,000 (estimated value of \13,253,000). If you are interested in rare cars, please check these auctions! It is an interesting auction just to have a look, too. Check the websites below: (if you want a translation, please ask us from “My Page”.)

(General Car Auctions)
http://koubai.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/auction/search?image=on&pageNo=&sortType=1&word=&category=2&pmin=&pmax=&type=0&area=0_0&status=&procedureNo=0
(Bentley)
http://koubai.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/auction/auction?pid=tokyo&oid=1216718450&aid=i11153059
(Three-wheel “Giant Coney”)
http://koubai.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/auction/auction?pid=sapporo&oid=1216349645&aid=i11153903
(Chrysler Plymouth)
http://koubai.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/auction/auction?pid=sapporo&oid=1216349645&aid=i11153903



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