CA auctions

Modesto Bee

Auctioneers' calls for bids on used cars and unsold furniture soon will ring out more frequently at The Auction Park in Modesto.

In a sign the valley's economy is cooling, The Auction Park's owner, Roger Ernst, said his 22-acre site is filled with repossessed vehicles and furniture ordered by retailers but never sold.

The Auction Park, which usually holds sales twice a month, will begin weekly auctions Saturday. Ernst said the weekly auctions will last at least through the end of summer.

"Physically, we can't do it in two weekends (a month)," said Ernst, who founded The Auction Park, at 824 Kiernan Ave., 20years ago. "This is the first time there's been this much product."

When the Northern San Joaquin Valley economy hummed along a few years ago, he said, many consumers bought vehicles with little or no money down.

As a result, many people got in over their heads, and vehicle repossessions have doubled over the past four months, Ernst said.

"Now people are getting a reality check," he said.

He's had 275 vehicles to sell at recent auctions, he said, and of those, about 100 have been repossessions.

Some consumers have gotten so far behind, he said, they've voluntarily had their vehicles repossessed to get out from under the loans.

One of the hot economy's main factors, the explosion in real estate, helped spur a corresponding flood of unsold furniture.

Stores bought a lot of furniture from Asia, Ernst said. But because sales slowed as the housing market cooled, he said, there was no market for that new furniture when it arrived.

His facility has 100,000 pieces of new furniture, and warehouse manager Joe Gomes said it's almost impossible to fit everything indoors.

"We're receiving more than we're able to sell," Gomes said, adding that he's noticed fewer buyers at recent auctions.

He said that's depressed sale prices at The Auction Park, which often are below normal retail prices for such merchandise.

"The furniture stores hate us right now," Gomes said.

Inside the warehouses, every corner is filled with bed frames, cabinets, couches, easy chairs and coffee tables.

Gomes said he recently saw a coffee table that normally would retail for $125 go for $25 in an auction.

"Whoever's out here, if they put up their hand, we're going to sell it to them," he said.

The Auction Park gets its items from a variety of sources, including bank repossessions, seizures from law enforcement investigations, business liquidations and consignments.

But while the flood of inventory is great for buyers, Ernst said, it's less desirable for sellers.

"We tell the consigners, if they put out an item for $10,000, we're just wasting time. It won't go for that," Ernst said.

The yard, which opened in 1987, has had up-and-down cycles but never with this much inventory, Ernst said.

"Every week, we're working, but that's what we do," he said. "If you wait about 30 seconds, it all changes."

For more information, call 527-7399 or go to www.theauctionpark.com.

Bee staff writer Ben van der Meer can be reached at bvandermeer@modbee.com or 578-2331.