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Declassified

They're all Sold! on the auction

The stories behind strange ads in the classifieds

By MELISSA LYTTLE
Published July 2, 2005

RANDY'S AUCTION (AB470)

Public Fri's 7pm, Dealers Mon

1PM (1st & 3rd) 813-623-5095

TAMPA - No. 2 - oh - is that a four? No. 204. Five dolla. Do I hear six? Six dolla, six dolla, six dolla, seven. Six buck. Seven buck. Six. Seven. Sold to No. 204 for seven.

From bathrobes to BattleBots to broken television sets, the conversation is always light and lyrical, the singsong language of another culture. Complete with its own hand gestures, cadence and timing. Fun and fast paced, the words fly almost as fast as the time.

How many do you want at seven bucks apiece? Two? Okay. Great. Then the conversation turns from business to pleasure. How are you doing, sweetheart? Feeling okay? Your mom all right? Good. Then a huge antique mirror is carried up to the front of the room and the chitchat dies in favor of the task at hand. Back to the bidding, the drum beats on, the melody of money is in the air.

"We sell some s---, don't we?" jokes auctioneer Randy Sanney of Riverview. With his wife, Nancy, and 30-year-old son, Jimmy, the family runs Randy's Auction every Friday night off Highway 301 and State Road 60.

Mary Caldwell of Plant City has been coming back every couple of weeks for the last 10 years because, well, it's something to do.

But most, like Mark Young of Lutz, say "(Randy's) personality is what keeps people coming back."

Young has been coming to Randy's forever. He's impressed with Randy's sense of humor, his memory, and the fact that you never know what you're going to get. Wife Sherry tells Young she just bought an ugly doll for $3. "You can't go wrong for $3," he reassures her.

Over 20 years ago, Randy said, he hauled cars back and forth to Michigan. He started going to auction houses to kill time along the way. And he got really into it - but not the buying as much as the auctioneering. So to kill time up and down that long stretch of I-75, he'd pretend he was up high on an auction block and put on his best auctioneering voice. "Every time I'd get to a new bump in the road, I'd change my number."

Once 7 o'clock rolls around, the regulars have been seated for more than an hour. Pickups sit quietly in the parking lot. The packed house is ready for some sweet deals.

- Declassified is an occasional series. Melissa Lyttle can be reached at 813 226-3363 or mlyttle@sptimes.com

[Last modified July 1, 2005, 08:34:03]