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i ' %u25a0 %u00bb VPHOENIX Penny-Pinching ProposalsSpectacular Bidders Come in Ahead Of infiationAuctioneer Henry Brooks sells 200 lots and properties at acity auction. (Occhiogrosso Photo)BY JEAN STERNLIGHT%u201c Going once, going twice, Sold! to the lady on the left,%u201d the gavel bangs. TTie unmistakable sounds of an auction in progress did not come from fashionable Sotheby Parke Bernet but from One Police Plaza in Manhattan. The occasion? The City was auctioning off over 200 properties it had acquired because owners had failed to pay their property taxes.What might be someone elses loss might be your gain at auctions held by the City%u2019s Real Estate . Department, Department of General Services, the Post Office, the federal General Services Administration or the Police Department. They are great places to fight inflation to buy something you need at a unexpectedly low price or, maybe just io wat oplc in a currently popular %u25a0 stood out in the audience and called out the bids so that the actual bidders wouldn%u2019t have to shout themselves hoarse.Bidding at an auction, like bidding in a poker game, needs astrategy. One fellow in a tan shirt opened the bidding on his choice property at $200 saying loudly, %u201c Oh, 1 guess I%u2019ll bid, why not?%u201d But by the time the bidding on that property ceased, he was up to $2,500. His little \wasn%u2019t loo effective that time.As soon as the bidding ends on a properly, the person who placed the highest bid must go to the back of the room and make a cash or check down payment. Usually 20 percent of the sale price.To get onto the mailing list and receive a catalogue describing theproperties to be sold at the next real estate auction write to the Division of Real Property, Bureau of Sales, 2 Lafayette St., Room 1903, New York, N.Y. 10007 or call 566-7550. The auctions are held about every other month, with (he next one scheduled for November 15, for 205 properties.POLICE DEPARTMENTAUCTIONSThe Police Department holds auctions every four to six weeks at which time it auctions off all sorts of property that has been retrieved from criminals, but could not bem n u m r n \\ %u00ab SHow To Save On Caviar And Other Great BuysBY LIBBY HAYMANIn my search for interesting ways in which people are beating inflation, doubt struck me early in the process. It began when I noticed that over a couple of years, the %u201c Best Buys%u201d column of a certain daily newspaper had evolved from a mundane listing of prices of center cut pork chops (not usually a best buy anyway) and Anjou pears, into something else. Recently the column has discovered %u201c best buys%u201d on caviar and walnut oil, imported pates and fresh sweet butter. All delicious things which will throw off the balance of my budget, my diet, and America%u2019s international payments. Best buys? If you can afford all this stuff, you don't need 'test buys.Added to our passu for exotic sources to fill our established nutritional needs is the current brand name mystique. Now that you%u2019ve got on your Gloria Vanderhilt jeans, are vou reallv eoine to bypass the Haagen Dasz and try generic when you come to the ice cream freezer? For some people, even Breyer%u2019s has become a compromise.Then there are the savings which end up costing more. I recently decided to ride my bike to work to save on transportation costs. The bike squeaked and swerved, and cost $50 to get in shape. Now, how am I going to write that off, in inflation fighting terms? It%u2019s 50 days of bus fares, or 500 dimes for the parking meter, or only ten parking tickets, but what was I doing getting those, anyway?The bike, of course, is good for me and for energy conservation.Health and saving energy are not questions of inflation fighting, but of moral imperatives. But the start-up cost is high, just like purchasing canning jars before you can preserve bargain summer produce, or buying a Cuisinart so you can do imaginative things with leftovers. The savings depend entirely on follow through. Does it really take money to save money? That%u2019s inflation.TIME CONSUMING SAVINGS The other sort of inflation fighting is the time consuming kind. I could have fixed that bike myself, and I can certainly chop up leftovers by hand, but I don%u2019t havelime. I%u2019m too busy working. Some people cut out coupons to save money. All I ever save is the coupons, which flutter months later from the pages of a book where they%u2019ve served as bookmarks.All of us know that if we took the time, we could save a lot of money in little ways. Most of us, though, would rather work harder, and maybe earn more, so that we don%u2019t have to mend every single garment that gets torn, or use every leftover.Even the City of New York this year is spending so much on manuels, training sessions, and so forth, for an equitable and efficient budget process, that one wonders what will be left to budget.When you spend two pennies to save just one, or when two pennies earned mean you're so busy that a penny%u2019s wasted, that%u2019s not inflation fighting, but inflation. Most of us arc doing it and it's not so good, when you think about it. I, for one, am about to read some real inflation fighting stories this week, and take a look at my forgotten priorities.returned to its original owners. You can get some good bargains on bikes, cars, mopeds, jewelry, televisions, and all other sorts of general property. Maybe you can even get back some of your very own stuff.If you had some property stolen from you, don%u2019t just show up at the auction and try to claim it, however. The best policy is to talk to the cops before ihe property goes up on the block. No, the police do not auction off any of the illicit substances they retrieve.Police auctions are usually held on Tuesdays, with the viewings held the previous Monday. There is no mailing list you can get on to, but there is a phone recording when you call 982-2190 and you will get information on the time, place, and contents of the next auction.The next viewing date is November 12 to prepare for a two-day auction on November 13 and 14 in the Pierson Place Storeroom at 47-15 Pierson Place in Long Island City.BOOKS AND CLOTHINGThe Post Office sponsors three or four auctions a year at which people can bid on all sorts of unclaimed and damaged articles. Didn%u2019t you ever wonder what happens to all those Christmas presents that never arrive? No. Santa docs not take them back up to the North Pole for next year%u2019s presents.According to the Post Office, the articles auctioned most frequently arc books and clothing, but practically anything else you can imagine has probably been auctioned off by the Post Office at one time or another. Never fear, they don%u2019t hold onto absolutely everything. That %u201c care package%u201d you sent to little Joey two months ago will not be silting there staring you in the face. Who knows though? Maybe you can pick up that special book or set of dishes that you have been wanting all your life. It won%u2019t cost you much either.A viewing of the articles is usually held the day before the auction at the General Post Office at 33rd Street and 8th Avenue in Manhattan. The next auction, selling books, will be held October 30.To get on the mailing list for the post office auctions, write to General Claims Department, Room 4508, General Post Office, 33rd St. and 8th Ave., New York, N.Y. 10001. The phone number is 971-7765.SURPLUS GOVERNMENT PROPERTYThe federal General Services Administration is responsible for the sale of all sorts of surplus government property. Now that Carter is trying to cut back on government use of autos, lots of government cars have been going up for auction. For example, on August 31st, some 98 sedan cars were put up for bids. These auctions arc usually held in Edison, New Jersey, and the inspection period is two or three days long.The federal GSA sponsors both sealed bid auctions, for which all bidders must submit sealed bids, and spot bid sales of the normal variety. To get on their mailing list call 264-2626.TRUCKS AND VANSFinally, the New York City Department of General Services holds weekly auctions at which all sorts of vehicles are offered. These include former police cars, fire trucks, Yamaha motorcycles, pickup trucks, and vans. Sometimes other items such as chain saws are also put up for auction.Auctions are usually held on Thursdays at 11 am at the Bancredit Service Agency, 126-30 Willets Point Boulevard in Corona, Queens, in the neighborhood of Shea Stadium. Inspections of the property are usually held on Wednesdays from 9:30 to 4:30 at this same location. Call 429-1300 for further information or to be placed on the mailing list.Cheaper By The Dozen Continued$6.45 for a case of the morepopular Friskies. Sometimes when buying in large quantities, an extra discount will be offered, 25 pounds of Science Maintenance diet for dogs was $10.99 at Critter Fritters, and is often not available in quantity at supermarkets.Critter Fritters, 503-1/2 2nd Street (7th Ave), 788-1912. Open every day 10-7pm, Wed & Sat to 6:30pm, Cash and carry, checks with proper identification.Beastly Bite at 140 Court St., 522-5133, 78 Henry Street,237-1883, open Mon-Sat, 10-7pm, Sun, 12-7pm, cash and carry.Cats %u2019N Jamas, 490 Atlantic Avenue, 625-4955, open Mon-Fri, 10:30 to 6:30pm, Sat, 9:30-5:30pm.OTHER BARGAINSOne little known place that does not fit in any category but where bargains are the rule is Samuel Underberg, a restaurant supply store. Underberg says he carries 1,800 items such as steel cutlery, aluminum and plastic trays, often used by avid gardeners rather than to avid masticators, cutting boards from $8.50 for the cheapest to $30, diet scales, stainless steel pans and more.Samuel Underberg, 620 Atlantic Avenue (5th Ave), 638-4171, open Mon through Fri, 8-4:30pm, cash and carry.LIQUOR AND WINEAll sales--induding bulk sales--- of liquor and wines are strictlyregulated by state laws. Liquor has a legal minimum price and a suggested retail price, and while merchants can go above the suggested retail price, they may not go below the minimum. Prices are published monthly and penalties for infractions are pretty steep, merchants report, which is not to say that no merchants will sell you something below the minimum retail price-they do-but only with trusted customers.Three discount stores in widely different neighborhoods showed the exact same prices for prime Cutty Sark Scotch, White Horse Whiskey and Gordon%u2019s Gin.In several regular liquor and wine stores, prices were consistently 50 cents to $1 above wholesalers which is not a major savings. All discount and regular stores reported giving 10 percent allowable discount for a case of 24 bottles of wine.Schaefer Liquor Store, 322 7thAve.(9th St.), 768-1232, open MonThurs, 9-8pm, Fri, Sat, 9-9pm. Schacher's has a great selection of foreign and domestic (California wines) besides a good variety of band liquors, cash and carry.Towne Liquor Store, 73 Clark Sreet, 875p3667, open Mon-Sat, 8am to 11:45pm. The liquor selection is greater than ihe w i n e selection.October 25,1979. The PHOENIX, Page 11