Reality of Auctions

My father bids at private auctions where insurance companies sell off the cars they have declared to be "totaled" to people who rebuild them or scrap them for parts.

One day he made the following observation:

"I pay a yearly membership fee, and if I'm the successful bidder, a sales fee and a "set-out" fee... All for the privilege of paying more for a wrecked car than anyone else there thought it was worth."