Grocery auctions could save you 60%

Grocery auctions could save you 60%
July 30, 2009 16:43 PM

SEVERNA PARK, Maryland -- If you would like to save 50 percent or more on groceries, you might want to head east toward Severna Park, Maryland. Once a month, hundreds of consumers find these types of savings on food at the Wishing Rock grocery auction.

Linda Dickerson is a self-proclaimed grocery auction addict. She travels the country from her home in Kissimmee, Florida looking for these auctions. She says there are none in the Florida area.

"I have six grandkids that live with me," says Linda. "I need all the help I can get with food, because they eat me out of house and home."

Dickerson has plenty of bidding options on meat, fish, snack foods, drinks... you name it.

Dickerson has also come prepared. She drove up to Maryland hauling a trailer with a freezer in it to bring back her purchases.

"Make sure the food is good and frozen, put some dry ice on it, and bring it home," says Dickerson.

Here's an idea on some of the prices:

At the grocery store, 24 lunchables would sell for $48. At the auction you can get that many for $8. An average ham steak would set you back $7 at the grocery store; it's $2.50 at the auction. Three boxes of Triscuits could cost you $8 at the store, it's $4 for all three boxes at the auction. Ten pounds of ribs went for $17 and a pound of frozen jumbo lump crab meat sold for $13.

At one point during the auction some bidders got the crab meat, a large hard salami and a tray of eight croissants -- all for $14.

So where does the food come from? Kathy Allen is the owner of Wishing Rock. She gets the food from wholesalers and overstock. Some of the food is close to expiration. Some of it has years of shelf-life left. There are also lots of frozen items.

"It's really for everybody. It's a family auction," says Allen. "It's a social event for some. It's fun. We try to put some fun into it."

Allen points out that grocery auctions are not new. It's an old concept that has taken off in today's tough economy.

"It's gotten even more enormous than it ever was," says Allen. "Unfortunately for the wrong reasons. But the economy is judging all of us."

In fact, the auction has gotten so big, Allen has had to move it from her Glen Burnie headquarters to the Earleigh Heights Fire Hall on Route 2.

Linda Dickerson has brought her sister-in-law and niece along for the bidding fun.

"If you bid, I won't bid against you. You don't bid against family," Dickerson jokes.

Wishing Rock Auctions takes cash, checks, and credit cards. You might also want to bring some boxes and perhaps a cooler along to haul your items back home.

The bidding is fast and furious. By the time the auction ends -- around midnight -- Dickerson has almost two months worth of food for her family for a total cost of $191.

"I'd say I saved at least 60 or 70 percent," says Dickerson.

After our partners WUSA 9News did this story, 10 Connects called Linda and she told us she got a loan to start her own business. She is going to auctioneer school in August.

Then she plans to open a food auction in Central Florida, since there are none in the state. There are only nine states that have them.

Linda told us normally, with six grandkids, her daughter and now a great great child living with her, she buys ground beef and hot dogs. But at the auction, she gets items like a 30 pound roast (which goes for about $6 a lb) for only $24 at the auction.

She says she gets to buy crabs and other seafood for her family at the auctions as well.

Linda Dickerson told us she has family in Maryland and heard about the grocery auction. She went to one and was hooked. So now she goes up there to visit family and to visit these auctions.

We will keep you posted on when Linda starts the grocery auction here in Florida.

You can click here to visit the National auctioneer website.

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