Auction House a worthwhile venture???

[Anonymous Poster]

Hi Guys,
Any Auctioneers out there? As if I don't have enough to worry
about, I decided to open a consignment auction house.
Rented the building, ran ads, and preparing to have our
first auction April 9th. Working on building in evenings, and
weekends. Me, wife, and daughter always loved auctions,
and daughter wants to go to auction school in June. Sooo,
hired an auctioneer to get us started, and hope for the best.
Do any of you guys auction, or know an auctioneer???
We plan to do consignment of antiques and collectibles,
and some household. Good idea, or brain lapse ??????????
Any knowledgeable comments appreciated. Rick

 

[BobT]

Hi Rick,

Boy the cabin fever really grabbed you this time!

I suppose the auction business more than any other would need to adhere to the principle of "buy low and sell high."

It seems many auction houses specialize in a particular line(s) of merchandise: Antiques, Collectibles, Real estate, Vehicles, Business equipment, Heavy Equipment, etc.

It will likely be very difficult to find a "how to" manual specific to the auction business. Most of the auctioneer houses are old time establishments, and continue by members of the family taking over. They would probably be reluctant to turn over all their insider secrets.

Look this title up on Amazon...It is supposedly out of print, but a couple are listed available as used.

Inside the Auction Game
by Frank Stefanick

The author, Frank Stefanick , July 12, 2000
This book both informs and entertains.
For the first time, the reader gains a backstage, behind the scenes look at the players and how the game is played honestly and dishonestly.

The uniqueness of this book stems from an author who worked his way through college as a buyer/seller at auctions. Many years later was drawn back to its captivating method and has operated an auction business for the past eighteen years."

Here's another:

Country Auctioneer : Anecdotes, Admonitions, & Advice
by Thomas M. Martin, Amy G. Moore (Editor)

This looks like a good source for info on schools, software, etc. http://www.auctioneers.org/index.cfm

Probably a real life auctioneer is a TBN member and will add more useful advice.

Good luck!

 

[Bird]

I don't know a darned thing about that business, Rick, but it sounds like fun, and I certainly wish you luck with it.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Thanks Bird,
Got any goodies you wanna unload, just call.
If this doesn't work I may be living in the auction house. Rick

 

[Anonymous Poster]

BobT,
Thank you SIR !!!!! I will start trying to find the books today.
As far as honest, Myself, daughter, and wife have vowed
that no matter what, there will be no favorites in the audience,
no one planted in audience to run prices up, etc. If we can't
do it right, we will not do it. I really appreciate your information !!!
Rick

 

[rdln]

you would let an owner in the audience raise the bid on his item wouldn't you?

 

[Golfgar4]

Rick,

Good luck on your new venture. I don't know a hoot about auctions, other than they take my money /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif! But I have a friend that is an auctioneer (part time) here in Wisconsin. He only hires out to conduct auctions at homes, etc. He doesn't own his own auction house like you've started. I know one thing - he sure keeps busy. And from the comments that he's made, he makes pretty good money. I can ask him some other questions if you want. Let me know.

 

[Alan L.]

Sounds like a good idea. If it doesn't work out, you can always hold an auction to get rid of the assets.

 

[8NTX]

I have been a licensed auctioneer in Texas since 1994, but seldom do auctions except for a large annual benefit auction locally. My dream was to open an antique auction house but I have yet to do it. It seems that my current business has been too lucrative to walk away from. But when I semi-retire in about 5 years, I hope to get into auctions full time. But I think I may change from antiques to farm equipment and estates. It seems that the antique business has been watered down so much by the internet that finding good stuff to sell has become next to impossible. I attended an auction school in 1995 and had lots of fun with it. I still practice my chant while in the shower LOL. Good luck with your venture and keep us posted. BTW, in Texas, the owner of the auction house has to be a licensed auctioneer.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Golfgar4
I would appreciate if you could ask him if he thinks we can
make a go of it by just doing in house auctions, or does he
think we will have to do on site auctions also to make it. We
do not expect to make a living out of it yet (maybe someday)
for my daughter, but we would like to make a nice side line
income. Thank you SIR !!! Rick

 

[MarkV]

Rick,

Let us know what Tilt Meters sell for at auctions?/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Of course I am kidding. I do admire your entrepreneurial attitude. I know from your past post you are hard working, always moving forward and don’t give up. Where you separate yourself from many others that strive for the business dream is you don’t compromise what you think is right and fair for those who put there trust in your ventures.

<font color=blue> As far as honest, Myself, daughter, and wife have vowed
that no matter what, there will be no favorites in the audience,
no one planted in audience to run prices up, etc.</font color=blue>

I don’t know enough about the auction business to know if this is a good or bad move. I will predict that as long as you maintain your standards, your time is coming.

Good luck,
MarkV

 

[Anonymous Poster]

MarkV,
Thank you for the kind words. I have been going to auctions
for probably 30 yrs. and I have learned from experience
that some auctioneers plant friends in the audience to buy
things at a cheap rate. Most common trick is to say "sorry
sir, I didn't see your hand. Last year I was bidding on a
tractor but the auctioneer (a local ) looked right at me and
sold the tractor to someone else. The tractor now sits on the
auctioneers small farm. Coincidence ? Maybe he bought it
from the first buyer ? Gave him the benefit of the doubt.
Until it happened again a few weeks later on a pickup, and
again on an antique car. He is now campaigning for city
council seat. He will not be getting my vote. I believe
everyone in the audience should have an equal chance to buy
the items. And the person that consigned the item should
get the best price someone is willing to pay. When the crook
came to my house campaigning, I asked how the auction
business was going, and he said he could not seem to get
any consignments or estates to sell. No wonder !!!
I have bought a few real bargains at auctions. Two years ago,
I was at a heavy equipment auction, and bought a self
contained gas powered welder/generator for $50.00. No one
bid on it, and the auctioneer started asking for a $500.00 bid
but had to come down to $50.00 to get a bid, and I was the
only bidder. I sold it to my cousin for the $50.00 I paid.
He's a good guy, and needed a welder, so why not.
Rick

 

[8NTX]

I would guess that in just about every state, it is illegal to have a "schill" in the audience. This is someone who secretly conspires with the auctioneer to bid something up, or to bid for the auctioneer's benefit. The only way to stop this is to complain to the licensing authority for your state. After enough complaints, assuming that they are well-funded enough to investigate, the auctioneer could be shut down for good. But this is a big assumption. Just like any other business, there are good ones and bad ones. Fortunately, many of the bad ones get a reputation and ultimately fail because of it.

 

[Golfgar4]

I'll see what I can find out and get back to you.

 

[Golfgar4]

<font color=blue>ask him if he thinks we can
make a go of it by just doing in house auctions</font color=blue>

I talked with my auctioneer friend today. I don't know if this is good /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif news or bad /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif news, but here it is anyway. He said to make it today, you'd have to do everything - your auction house and private auctions. I did explain that you already had the auction house started and that you had your own building and inventory. Well, that made him feel a little better. He said that you have half the battle won. The other half is keeping a steady stream of inventory coming in. But he still strongly recommends that you get into doing private auctions too.

Hope this helps! Will I get some kind of contributors discount now /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif???

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Golfgar4,
You bet ya.
Come on down, and we'll let you help tear out a few walls to
help make the place bigger. We thought the main part of the
building was big enough until we got chairs and merchandise
in the place. Now it's way too small. So this week end it's a
tear out more walls party. Thank you for talking to your
friend. Rick

 

[Golfgar4]

I'd love to come down....er.....where /w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif? You haven't registered yet, so I don't know where down is /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif. I didn't notice anything in any of the posts. For some reason, I get the feeling that it might be Texas?

 

[ChrisR]

Hi Rick

I've been going to auctions for years and along the way have picked up many bargains, but one thing I'm noticing more and more is the smaller auction houses and farm auction companies are now charging Buyers Premiums. Now I Know the big auctioneers have had this for a while, but it seems now that everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. I went to a small auction the other day and they were charging 10% on the Hammer price plus GST which is another 10% (this is in Australia) so on a hammer price of $1000 you will actually pay $1210 this has certainly made me think twice about buying things this. Do you have this in the States ? I think it's making more people go back to buying things through the local papers etc.

Regards

Chris

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Hi ChrisR,
We do have a few charging 10% buyers premium, but most
do not. We will not be charging it. What is GST ??? General
sales tax ??? I went to a used office furniture warehouse
yesterday to buy more metal folding chairs, and while there
I noticed just the very top part of a wooden chair sticking up
above a few hundred plastic stacking chairs. Dug it out, and
it is an antique ladder back chair with hand woven hemp
seat, in PERFECT condition. Not a reproduction, the real
thing !!! Bought it for $10.00. Still some bargains out there.
Thanks, Rick

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Golfgar4,
We are located in Riverside Missouri. We are surrounded by Kansas City on three sides. We are just south of K.C.I.
Airport about 5 miles. If you are ever in the area I will buy
you an Auction house hot dog. Hey, no big thing, CUT THE
APPLAUSE ! It's just the kind of guy I am. LOL.
Rick