Chapter 279: Cooperative Battle
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Hans was the elite cannoneer. With the Italian cannon in his hands, he could use it as if it were his own limbs.
Andrew was dead-set on getting this unit. He was planning to obtain it with the force of sheer money, since he knew that not many people had brought as much cash as he had.
Most of them had just happened to hear that there was good stuff at this auction, but regarding what was exactly here, or how much value it had, only a handful knew.
Hans and the Playboy hadn’t managed to get that info either. Andrew did, as he had wide connections and contacts in central Arizona.
Thus, before coming to the auction, he had carefully prepared.
One of the most crucial parts of his preparation was that he had brought enough money.
Each time he bid he had raised the offer by an outrageous amount. Most people were scared away by it, but Hans would always follow closely.
"Eighty thousand dollars!" Andrew shouted.
The treasure hunters looked at him, full of envy and hatred. "The cocky man is really rich."
Andrew had only basked in this attention for a few seconds before someone shouted, "81,000 dollars."
Hearing that irritating voice again, he didn’t even need to look to know who it was: Hans was the one calling.
He gritted his teeth, and bumped it up by a large number again: "90,000 dollars!"
Hans followed again: "91,000 dollars!"
F*ck! Andrew cursed in his heart. He glared at Hans. "Little girl, have you fallen in love with me? You sure are desperate to chase me!"
Hearing his sarcasm, Hans wasn’t mad in the slightest, but just chuckled softly.
The Playboy was even more ecstatic. He watched the two compete as if he were watching a soap opera.
Andrew flipped his middle finger at the two and exclaimed, "100,000 dollars!"
"One hundred one thousand dollars!" Hans said.
"One hundred two thousand dollars," Andrew spat.
Finally, it reached a price where he couldn’t simply throw out wild, pricey bids. He started properly bidding.
Clearly, the domain after the 100,000-dollar threshold was dangerous; each subsequent bid was carefully made.
Noticing this, the Playboy kicked things into action and raised his hand, saying, "110,000 dollars."
The treasure hunters who were watching the commotion now turned to him. "How do they have so much money? These fellas are too rich. With so much money, why are they still attending storage auctions? Isn’t it better to go to auction houses?"
"America is full of rich men, brother. Let’s just watch the show."
"No one else is participating? So it’s just the three of them going at it? Needless to say, there’s too many poor bums who came today!"
"Nonsense, why aren’t you bidding then? You talk as if you’re not a poor bum too!"
In fact, there were still some treasure hunters interested in this unit, but they were hesitant to bid.
They could fork out hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of funds, but they didn’t have confirmation of the value of the unit. They estimated that this unit could sell for at least a hundred thousand.
However, that was all there was to it. How much they could really sell those items for, they didn’t have the capabilities or experience to estimate. If they could, they would have been like the Playboy and entered the Hundred Thousand Club a long time ago.
The storage auction business tested heavily on one’s eye for things. Li Du had the unique ability with his bug. Even he had not managed to enter the Hundred Thousand Club yet, showing how tough of a challenge it was to enter.
Without a concrete estimation of the unit’s value, there was a chance of going into the red zone. With offers that went beyond 100,000, going into the red wouldn’t simply be just in thousands, but tens of thousands of dollars.
Ordinary treasure hunters could not handle such losses; they could only watch as Cocky Andrew and the others competed, remaining on the sidelines.
The Playboy had entered the bid, which made things more interesting now. Andrew’s face turned grim. He gritted his teeth and raised the price: "111,000 dollars."
"One hundred twelve thousand dollars," Hans smiled.
The Playboy shrugged and showed him courteous pose, implying that he would not compete with Hans.
Andrew said grimly, "113,000 dollars."
The Playboy immediately shouted, "120,000 dollars."
Andrew was about to burst his lungs from rage. Clearly, the two were working together against him.
There was a principle that all treasure hunters followed: the final bid should at most be half the value of the goods inside the storage unit. For example, if the goods in a unit could sell for 8,000 dollars, then the highest bid should be 4,000 dollars.
However, the premise was that it only applied to numbers below 10,000 dollars.
If the storage value were between 10,000 to 50,000 dollars, then the maximum bid they could go would be about 70 percent of the unit’s worth. More than 50,000 dollars, then it could go up to 80 percent.
After 100,000 dollars, it would be a grey area. As long as there was a profit to be made, it was always worth the bid. Even if it were just 10 percent, there would be 10,000 dollars to be made.
Andrew and the Playboy were mortal enemies. With the latter in the game, the price war jolted into another frenzy.
"One hundred fifty thousand!" Andrew shouted.
With the bid pushed to 150,000 dollars, the Playboy shook his head and backed out.
Andrew shouted to him, "Come on, keep going! No more money, eh? You Mississippi hoodlum!"
Hans had not backed out yet. He raised it to 151,000 dollars.
Andrew pondered for a moment, and raised it by another 1,000.
Hans remained unhesitant, and also raised it by another 1,000.
With the repeated exchange, the two raised the bid to 165,000 dollars.
It was then that Andrew finally couldn’t handle the pressure. He gritted his teeth and backed out.
Seeing his exit, the Playboy exclaimed, "Hey, aren’t you fully prepared today? Why are you backing out so soon?"
Andrew scoffed and said, "Didn’t you back out much earlier than me?"
Hearing that, Li Du and the Playboy shook hands. Li Du smiled and said, "Congrats, this unit is yours now."
Andrew’s smiled stiffened immediately. He realized that Hans had been bidding for the Playboy!
With that, he said grimly, "So you’ve taken in two dogs? Such obedient mutts, they sure know how to bark."
"Do you only know how to move your mouth?" Li Du said. "Andrew, you entered the Hundred Thousand Club with that mouth of yours, huh?"
"Don’t be so happy so soon," Andrew said, glaring at them. "Don’t think that just by getting this unit, you’ve earned a profit. Are these things worth 165,000 dollars? No, they’re not!"
In fact, that was what Li Du believed as well. If he were the one bidding, he would have backed out when it hit 120,000 dollars.
However, the Playboy didn’t think so. His final offer had been 180,000 dollars.
In any case, the owner most suited for this unit was him. Only he had connections to sell these luxury goods.
Selling second-hand goods was different from selling brand-new goods. The channels to sell them were different, the clients were different, and the prices were different. The Playboy could sell these luxury products for a high price.
The second unit was opened, and the second round of the auction started.
There were still many luxury goods, but mostly clothing. There was only a meager amount of luxury furniture. The value was lackluster compared to the previous unit.
The treasure hunters shook their heads one by one as they viewed the unit.
"Who’s the owner of these units? Was he a king from some Middle East country?"
"If he had so much money, why did he immigrate? Wouldn’t it have been better in his own land?"
"D*mn it, this guy is so wasteful—I hope God punishes him!"