footnotes*

The traditional image of an auction involves the auctioneer soliciting bids in a singsong manner that rises in a crescendo until the words “Going once, going twice, sold!” are finally spoken as a gavel slams on a podium. Although the old-fashioned auctioneer’s song may be a relic of the past, auctions themselves are quite the thing these days.

* Bargains can be had at auctions, but only if you’re careful not to get caught up in a bidding frenzy. Notices of live auctions run in Section 1483 of The Times’ classifieds seven days a week, but the most ads appear Sundays. Everyone knows of the popular ebay.com, but it is only one of dozens of auction sites on the Web--auctionnation.com, auctionport.com, biddersuite.com, auctiongate.com. and a-world.com (Auction World)--to name a few.

* Some business sites, such as bookseller amazon.com and ticket broker tickets.com, also offer online auctions as an additional service to their customers. Even our own latimes.com has an online auction service where Web surfers can bid on anything from clothes dryers to Beanie Babies to antique vases.

* Many traditional auction houses, such as Christie’s (christies.com) and Sotheby’s (sothebys.com), don’t take online bids, but post notices and catalogs of future offerings on their Web sites. Even the U.S. government sponsors a Web site (financenet.gov) to post information on auctions of surplus and seized assets and properties. The Treasury Department has scheduled an auction of seized property Nov. 4 in Rancho Dominguez. Call (310) 639-2930.

The 1999 Palm Springs Exotic Car Auction, featuring more than 300 classic vehicles, will be this weekend at the Palm Springs Convention Center. Call (760) 320-3290 or check out classic-carauction.com.